


A Tiny Smirk is Devastating

by LScore



Category: Naruto, 微微一笑很倾城 | Love O2O (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Gaming, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:02:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 89,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23238145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LScore/pseuds/LScore
Summary: Second-year Computer Science student Sakura never thought her road to find true love IRL would begin with a divorce in-game. But the Way of the Ninja is long and winding - and the person who takes her hand to travel it together is the last person she was expecting. How does the server's number one know who she is?!
Relationships: Eventual Aburame Shino/Inuzuka Kiba, Eventual Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Eventual Hyuuga Neji/Tenten, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru/Temari, Sai / OC, eventual Sai/Yamanaka Ino
Comments: 336
Kudos: 340





	1. Let's Get Divorced?!

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Naruto, A Slight Smile is Devastating, or Love O2O, nor do I receive any commercial benefit from this fic. All rights belong to their respective rights holders.

Four years had led to this. Four years of blood, sweat, and tears. Four years of all-nighters, energy drinks, and drunk breakfasts - once they did this, there was no going back. They were going to commit to this dream. Sasuke didn’t let his feelings show on his face, but he fisted his hands under the desk. _It was real now. We're actually about to do this crazy thing._

"Here, teme," Naruto slid the pen and papers over. Their eyes met, and Sasuke saw the same trepidation and excitement reflected in Naruto's blue eyes. Not that he'd ever tell the bastard, but Sasuke was glad they’d ended up as roommates who fought 13 PVP matches the day they’d met. He’d known he could build a game company on his own, but he made it a better one with this guy and their friends.

“And with this, you have your own space. Congratulations,” In the office area of his Internet cafe, Kakashi smiled, looking up at the two young men sitting across from him.

“That would sound so much more convincing if you hadn’t spent the past half hour reading that Icha Icha book while we were signing this thing, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto complained.

“I’ve waited a long time for Icha Icha Innocence, and I’m not about to give it up just to watch you guys sign your names,” Kakashi retorted, unperturbed, “You guys are about to start your last university term. You should have figured this out in kindergarten.”

“Not this loser,” Sasuke muttered as he took one last look over the papers, then slid them across the desk.

Naruto ignored him, instead getting excited about what the signed contract meant for them. “We can have an actual team now! They can actually sit at desks. I can have actual storage! I don’t have to store paper’s on Sasuke’s bed any more! This is going to be AWESOME. Dattebayo!”

“Does Sasuke sleep somewhere else? With a woman?” Kakashi leered.

“My brother is a professor now, remember?” Sasuke retorted, “Campus housing.”

“Besides, he’s basically a monk,” Naruto grinned, “I wouldn’t believe he really is Mr. Popular if I didn’t have to deal with the love letters every week.”

“Go die,” Sasuke only scoffed at Naruto.

“Who would eat your Valentine’s Day chocolate then?” Naruto teased.

Kakashi put on a look of fake concern, “Are you okay, Sasuke? Do you need to see a doctor about….” when Sasuke glared at him, he cracked and gave a small, teasing grin.

Sasuke wondered how his older brother had resisted the urge to punch Kakashi while they'd been in the same Master's program. Then again, Itachi had only been 12.

“You still need to sign the papers, you know,” Sasuke said wryly.

“Fine,” Kakashi sighed, “I don’t know if I should, you guys drive a hard bargain. Look at what you’re paying for the upper level here! It’s a prime location! Che.”

“You’re the one who told us not to be nice,” Sasuke replied.

“You didn’t have to be that mean,” Kakashi muttered. Sasuke smirked with satisfaction. He must be cursing himself for taking them under his wing when they first started out doing the whole game development thing. Kakashi'd thought he was doing his old teacher and kouhai a favour, give their son and brother the benefit of his past experience in the industry. Now that he was only the small business owner of an internet cafe though, they were ruthlessly taking advantage of his slowly declining business.

“That’s Sasuke’s job, y’know,” Naruto grinned sunnily, “He’s such an asshole, we let him loose on the people we don’t need to be polite to.”

“Otherwise we’d be bankrupt by now,” Sasuke muttered darkly.

“Hey!”

“Fine, fine. Don’t fight, boys. This is supposed to be a happy occasion. You can treat me to ramen to celebrate.” Kakashi said, not even looking up.

“Sensei, shouldn’t you be treating us to ramen?” Naruto retorted.

“You guys are the ones who’ll be making money once you find a partner for your mobile game. With that one’s ruthlessness, you should make plenty out of it,” Kakashi replied, handing one copy to Sasuke and tucking one into his filing desk drawer. Something down at the bottom caught his eye.

“I suppose we could treat you this once,” Sasuke let a small smirk creep out as he tucked the papers into his messenger bag, “considering we just cleaned you out.”

Naruto snorted as they both got up to leave but took a quick look back when Kakashi didn’t follow them. “Coming, Kakashi-sensei? Otherwise we’ll leave you behind.”

“Actually, Sasuke, could you step out for just a minute? I have something for Naruto,” The older man asked, rummaging in his desk drawer.

Sasuke closed the office door behind him as his business partner went back in. If Kakashi didn’t want him there, it was probably something to do with Naruto’s parents. Sasuke knew he was only trying to be considerate, considering both him and Naruto were orphans. He walked a couple steps away to give them some more privacy, so he wouldn’t overhear anything, and scanned the various screens to see if anyone was doing anything interesting.

The cafe was clean and busy, but quieter than expected, especially on a Thursday evening near the beginning of term in Konohagakure. Now that personal PCs were common and people had so much computing power in their pockets, not as many people used internet cafes these days. Kakashi was still doing okay, all things considered, but sooner or later Naruto would rope him into working for their company. He had faith in his business partner’s ability to recruit. They would need a few more years before they could afford the former programming star from ROOT Inc., though.

All of a sudden, his eyes stopped in one booth, booth number 27 in the corner. He recognized the game: Way of the Ninja, an older but still popular MMO. The figure in the booth was hidden in an oversized grey hoodie with Konoha U’s emblem on the back. Sasuke raised an eyebrow when he saw what was unfolding on the screen.

 _A Clan War? In the Forest of Death? And they’re the attacking side, not the defending one?_ Clans warred on other clans for only two reasons: because they wanted their Clan Hall, and thus Clan Name, or for a huge amount of cash. Defenders, however, could claim a huge monetary penalty from the attacking team if they successfully fended off the attack, and they had a home-field advantage on their clan grounds.

The Forest of Death Clan was a notoriously difficult clan to war against because of two things: The defenders had a broken advantage on this map, and the War Leader’s ability was an immobility attack that would turn its targets into sitting ducks. Sure, the War Leader would have to leave the base, make themselves more vulnerable, and give up their birds’ eye view without the fog of war to use the attack, but it still could easily turn the tide.

He soundlessly prowled a little closer, peering over the player’s shoulder to get a good look at his chat bar. This player was part of the Rolling Jade Seas Clan, a well-respected clan on the Hidden Leaf server. Sasuke couldn't see his avatar on the screen, but he could see all of the other person's clanmates on his mini-map, which meant that this player was a War Leader who hadn't left the base and activated his ability yet.

 _This should be an interesting fight to watch._ The Rolling Jade Seas Clan had a slight numbers advantage, and their players were near the markers the war leader had placed. All of a sudden, the person sitting in the booth froze, and from the text that had appeared in map chat, Sasuke could understand why.

> **[Map] System:** [Forest of Death] War Leader Nuxalia has entered the battle.

“Shannaro!” the figure in the seat cursed.

_The opponent’s War Leader was in? That was quick. They’re only 10 minutes into the fight. I wonder how that happened..._

**(°ロ°) !**

_How that happened…_

> **[Map] System:** [Rolling Jade Sea] Clan has entered the [Forest of Death] Clan grounds. You have three minutes to the end of the invulnerability period. Please prepare for the Clan War. War Leaders must be in their bases by the time the invulnerability period ends.  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** Aight Let's do this. Food and Buffs at base, save your cool downs, don't waste your kunai. And fer ****’s sake, used ranged attacks.  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** We lose if I die, so keep me safe, boys by LISTENING TO ME  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** Section 6, watch the base  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth** : Remember boys, we’re fighting for the hall.  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth** : Lose, and we lose our sacred land  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** And the nice buffs and perks that come with it  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** Do you want to go back to using Newbie City?  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth** : Win, and we get lots of nice hard gold.  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth** : Enough to buy the next clan hall upgrade and have enough left over to buy you all Top-Tier weapons  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** Click the ready check when it comes up. Squad leaders on the markers  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] CanonFodder69:** rdy  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth** : use the ready check, not chat dumba***  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Squad 4 Leader YugePen1s:** lets **** these ****ers

Surrounded by the fog of war, ninjas quietly activated stealth jutsu and spread into the canopy like a miasma, ready to descend upon the intruders. Kunai at the ready, they posed a deadly, unseen threat to the poor souls below. The first timers were nervous and excited, but the veterans were relaxed and confident. They had the home-field advantage. They held the high ground, literally and figuratively Many clans had tried, and many had failed. So what if the challengers were a top 5 clan? It just meant that they needed a small number advantage. But this was their forest.

Chat was silent, until -

> **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** Incoming. Listen to your squad leaders, don’t engage -  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] CanonFodder69:** wtf  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] CanonFodder69:** 1 person  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] CanonFodder69:** 1 person  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth** : other side might be using stealth, leave  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] YugePen1s:** 1 *****  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] YugePen1s:** wtf she’s drunk  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** Squad 2 take aim and then shift to square markers. Don’t give away your position.  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Squad 2 Leader InstantKillSh0t:** OK  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Squad 2 Leader InstantKillSh0t:** We’re not hitting her.  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Squad 2 Leader InstantKillSh0t:** Not sure wtf is going on  
>  **[Map] Chun_Lee:** Ya scared of a little girl?  
>  **[Map] Chun_Lee:** Come and get me you ****ers  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** Oh ****  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Squad 4 Leader YugePen1s:** It’s one drunk ***** are we a top 10 clan or not  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Squad 4 Leader YugePen1s:** Let’s just kunai the ****  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** NO  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** NO  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** NO AGGRO  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** YOU ****ERs  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** SHES GOT THE DRUNKEN FIST TRAIT YOU CAN’T HIT HER

But it was too late. In a sleepy bedroom in Hoshigakure’s sleepy suburbs, Nuxalia swore loudly as she watched six blue dots appear on the map and converge towards one lone red dot on her mini-map. She leaned forward on her keyboard and started frantically mashing the buttons, desperately issuing orders and trying to save the fight, but in her heart of hearts, she knew they’d seriously fucked up.

> **[Map] Chun_Lee:** Lolololololol **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] War Leader SakuraBlossom** :They took the bait.

No matter what taijutsu moves the six ninjas from Forest of Death’s Squad 4 tried, none of them could land a blow on the lone, bun haired kunoichi they were targeting. Despite everything they threw at her, they just brushed the edge of her blue and gold qipao, while she danced around like a sot. In a small room at Konoha Tech’s Male Dorms, YugePen1s gaped at the screen, not believing what he was seeing. He just managed to dodge one swipe of her white boots, but it connected with a nearby clanmate, and the red damage numbers that flashed on the screen made his eyes pop. Truly angry now, he mashed a key sequence for his ultimate ninjutsu.

In yet another room far away in Iwagakure, Chun_Lee watched the rapidly depleting health bar while frantically clicking on every potion in the open inventory window. While the Drunken Fist trait might be broken in that it didn’t require the user to actually fight, as the system took care of pesky things like attacking and dodging, it eroded hit points like crazy.

> **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 1 Chun_Lee** : I’m at 60% health now  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 1 Chun_Lee** : Need back up soon, drunken fist isn’t going to last much longer  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 1 Chun_Lee** : You can’t even hit a little girl?!  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 1 Chun_Lee** : Sry, autogen in the wrong channel.  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 3 FriesWithThat:** Taunt where they can see it.

Too late, the ninjas of Squad 4 realized why their war leader had ordered them to use ranged attacks. The Forest of Death gave the defending clan a huge advantage when it came to defense: 50% accuracy and 50% ranged attack boost, but unlike most places in the game, it also allowed for friendly fire. YugePen1s’ ultimate Ninjutsu did huge Area of Effect damage to his poor teammates, but somehow, the bun-haired kunoichi just fell forward in a summersault and got out of range before the cast time had elapsed..

> **[Map] System:** First blood! Friendly Fire! YugePen1s has killed CannonFodder69 with an assist from Chun_Lee

YugePen1s gaped at his screen. How the hell had she done that?! She was fighting 6 people at once, she shouldn’t be able to watch his hand seal animations! He didn’t have time to think, though, when her fist connected with someone else and their health bar went grey. Grimly, he started dodging for all he was worth.

> **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia: ******  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] War Leader Nuxalia:** Squad 1 & 2 dispelling jutsus

12 more dots turned from blue to grey and appeared on the mini-map, fanning out in a sweeping motion, but Nuxalia had seen the four blue xs on her map. She knew that meant they were in deep shit. After this, she was going to challenge that idiot Section 4 Leader to a PVP duel herself and beat the shit out of him herself, damn the clan rules.

Chun_Lee breathed a sigh of relief when the red x’s marking the downed enemy players appeared. Mission accomplished.

> **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 1 Chun_Lee** : 40% 4 down  
>  **[Map] Chun_Lee** : Nyahahah Missed me!  
>  **[Map] Chun_Lee** : C’mon c’mon!  
>  **[Map] Chun_Lee** : Ya scared of a little girl?  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 3 FriesWithThat:** Dispelling Jutsus are coming  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] War Leader SakuraBlossom** : GO

Ninjas abandoned their stealth jutsus as they reached the tops of canopies and on the forest floors below. Above, the kunais and ranged jutsu were flying like bullets, and below, deadly taijutsu moves were exchanged with ruthless precision. While the ninjas of the Forest of Death Clan put up a valiant fight, throwing 20% of their forces away against one kunoichi had been a blunder that would be very difficult to recover from.

Nuxalia gritted her teeth. She had no choice, now. She had to enter the fray.

> **[Map] System:** [Forest of Death] War Leader Nuxalia has entered the battle

**(メ°皿°)ﾉ**

Sasuke watched as the player in the booth frantically started laying down new markers. He could read as well as the Rolling Jade Seas Clan War Leader could, though, that panic was breaking out in their clan chat.

> **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] FireyKunai** : I can’t use ninjutsu  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakiChan** : wtf I can’t use taijutsu  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Clan Leader MightMasterEbisu** : wtf  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Clan Leader MightMasterEbisu** : I just got OHKO-ed

_He’ll enter the fray soon. He’s their War Leader, he can’t just leave them to die._

> **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 3 FriesWithThat:** They launched their Warleader ability. I’m still stealthed. Saku go **  
> [Map] System:** [Rolling Jade Seas] War Leader SakuraBlossom has entered the battle  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 3 FriesWithThat:** I’m targeting

When he saw the pink-haired figure leave the Rolling Jade Seas’ base, he realized that the player was using a female avatar. Another male avatar carrying a giant brush joined her, dark purple on her mini-map so he was still stealthed to everyone else.

_Hrn. Must be a married couple with a big boost fighting together, if this guy, FriesWithThat - what a dumb username - gave up the numbers advantage to stay behind with her. If he’s targeting for her with genjutsu, judging from his brush, she’s probably a ninjutsu main. This is getting more and more interesting._

With a jolt, he remembered something. The Rolling Jade Seas Clan War Leader’s special ability a passive one, unlike the Forest of Death Clan’s. It was a 200% taijutsu boost. For most players, taijutsu was a waste of chakra, as Ninjutsu was able to do so much more damage for the same amount of chakra spent. The disadvantage of Ninjutsu was the hand seals that could give away what they were casting to a veteran player and the cast time. _It can’t be. This war leader is a taijutsu main?_

**(o_O) !**

Large roots erupted from the earth, and whippy branches lashed out from the trees to tie down the fifteen Rolling Jade Seas Clan members with the most hit points at the moment. Their skill bars that required hand seals were dark, leaving many of them helpless.

> **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth:** GOGOGO WL SKILL  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth:** FAST&HARD  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] CannonFodder69:** That’s what she said  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth:** STAY DEAD

Fireballs, wind blades, and flying projectiles whistled a dirge call for the dead through the Forest. Whatever chakra reserves they had left, they poured into this last stand as their War Leader’s avatar sank into the ground. The player herself frantically pounded out the sequence to keep the genjutsu going, unable to do anything else.

They were so focused on one-sidedly massacring the incapacitated Rolling Jade Seas Clan ninjas, though, that they didn’t notice a little ink bird flit by their characters, nor the status debuff that appeared. If they’d taken the time to hover over it, it would’ve read: “Tagged by FriesWithThat: You’ve been marked for Death. 25% physical defense debuff.”

Unfortunately, most didn’t bother.

**(-_-;)・・・**

> **[Map] System:** SeptaKill! War Leader SakuraBlossom is on a rampage! 5% bonus damage! War Leader SakuraBlossom has massacred InstantKillSh0t with an assist from FrieswithThat  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] InstantKillSh0t:** I didn’t even see her coming  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] InstantKillSh0t:** The hell was that?  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth:** Ele?  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] InstantKillSh0t:** She’s not using Ninjutsu  
>  **[Map] System:** OctaKill! War Leader SakuraBlossom is on a rampage! 10% bonus damage! War Leader SakuraBlossom has massacred YugePen1s with an assist from FrieswithThat  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Section Leader 4 YugePen1s:** WTF Broken  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Section Leader 4 YugePen1s:** WTF Broken  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Section Leader 4 YugePen1s:** WTF Broken  
>  **[Map] YugePen1s:** y r u cheating in a clan fight.  
>  **[Map] YugePen1s:** Top 5 clan can suck my ****s  
>  **[Map] System:** NonaKill! War Leader SakuraBlossom is on a rampage! 15% bonus damage! War Leader Sakura has massacred SerNorth with an assist from FrieswithThat  
>  **[Map] SerNorth:** Shut up, Yuge.  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth:** The husband’s using genjutsu to debuff and target so WL can shadow step directly and use low accuracy, high damage taijutsu  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth:** Esp with the married buff + WL ability  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth:** She’s fast, Nux, but she must be running out of Chakra by now.  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth:** 9 kills, even if they were all taijutsu  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth:** If they find you, just survive and we should still win

Sakura scanned her mini-map with a scowl. Now that she had left the base, the fog of war made it impossible to tell what her clanmates’ situation was. She had to get them back in action, somehow.

> **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 1 Chun_Lee:** You need to interrupt the WL to stop this jutsu.  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 1 Chun_Lee:** Or we’ll still lose  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 1 Chun_Lee:** Dispellers are tied up  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] War Leader SakuraBlossom:** Where?  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] ILolololU:** I can see her. Tagged  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Section Leader 3 Fries with That:** Tks

While Nuxalia may have almost missed the little genjutsu bird that flitted by, she did notice the debuff. She gritted her teeth, but she didn’t dare stop pounding out the War Leader’s technique sequence. With this technique, though, she could only brace herself against the small kunoichi avatar that appeared in front of her, fist drawn back to hit her.

She calculated that she’d survive the first hit and then let go of the technique to engage the opposite War Leader in a fight. After all, this technique also gave her personally a 50% increase to defense, and it would only take her five more seconds to cast her own personal ultimate ninjutsu.

She watched the small female kunoichi close in on her avatar. This was the legendary SakuraBlossom? The only female player on the world Top 10? She looked so small and unthreatening with that pink hair. How much damage could she really do?

When she watched the replay of the fight afterward, Nuxalia could only shake her head at her own hubris. Then again, how many players could make that many moves in 5 seconds? How in the world did she still have the chakra to hit that hard?

> **[Map] System:** DecaKill! Overkill! War Leader SakuraBlossom is on a rampage! 20% bonus damage! War Leader SakuraBlossom has massacred War Leader Nuxalia with an assist from FrieswithThat  
>  **[Map] System:** With the warleader dead, the Clan War is over! [Rolling Jade Seas] Clan is victorious!  
>  **[Map] System:** Resurrecting in 30 seconds…

**＼(＾▽＾)／**

In an internet cafe in Konohagakure, Sakura Haruno breathed a huge sigh of relief as her teammates’ health bars all rapidly refilled, and the blue X’s disappeared off her minimap. The former red dots showing the Forest of Death Clan were now a standard dark grey, and their many more X’s also became dots. That was close. The Forest of Death really was a broken Clan Hall - what was with that War Leader’s technique? Total immob on half the squad? Really, it was too OP.

She reached over to her keyboard to respond to the torrent of congratulations pouring in from her clan mates

> **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] FriesWithThat:** GG  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakiChan:** Whee! We Won!  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakiChan:** GG War Leader  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] ILolololU:** Clutch. Gg WL, esp with that kill streak  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] FireyKunai** : First time I’ve ever seen a decakill  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakuraBlossom:** Congrats! GG all! ^_^  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakuraBlossom:** Especially you, CL  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakuraBlossom:** Beautiful taunts, your Drunken Fist Trait is super OP in this clan war  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Chun_Lee:** Tyty, same to you WL! It was all you!  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Chun_Lee:** If I hadn’t had your max level elixirs I wouldn’t’ve still been standing  
>  **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** but you and Fries work so well together! Best hubby and wifey team!  
>  **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** It’s almost like you guys are dating irl  
>  **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Are you? Have you met in person?  
>  **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** No  
>  **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** It’s just a game marriage, don’t think too much about it  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakuraBlossom:** Hey at least you have an inherent technique, even if it isn’t a kekkai genkai.  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] FriesWithThat:** Still, 100% damage, 100% Dodge while under the effects of drunkenness. Too bad the auto generated taunt dialogue is so bad.  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Chun_Lee:** Tell me about it! Not honorable at all. I dislike it.  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Clan Leader MightMasterEbisu:** GG all  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Clan Leader MightMasterEbisu:** Sakura, next time maybe give us more time to get in place with your markers  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Clan Leader MightMasterEbisu:** They were a little slow to drop

Sakura leaned back from her computer, thoroughly annoyed at her clan leader. _He was only a substitute, anyways_. He’d been the only one too slow to get to his marker on time, and she’d assigned him to the closest one. Wasn’t her fault he put all his trait points in strength and not speed. Dumbass. She was about to type out a response to that effect, when -

> **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Chun_Lee:** We all need more practice with this game type anyways  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] Chun_Lee:** Next time we keep on improving!

She smiled despite her annoyance. That was CL for her. She was always so positive. Besides her in-game husband, FriesWithThat, Chun_Lee was probably her best friend in the clan and one of the only reasons she was still in it after their true Clan Leader had left.

> **[Self] System** : Nuxalia has offered you a handshake to bury the hatchet. Type Y to accept the emote **  
> [Self] SakuraBlossom:** Y  
>  **[Map] System:** Old rivals become new friends. Nuxalia and SakuraBlossom have shaken hands to end the feud!  
>  **[Map] Nuxalia** : GG. You guys won fair and square. Do you want the Hall or the cash penalty?  
>  **[Map] SakuraBlossom:** GG. Penalty, please. We already have our own hall that we like.  
>  **[Map] Nuxalia** : You sure? It’s a good hall.  
>  **[Map] SakuraBlossom** : Yep. And the other thing we agreed on.  
>  **[Map] Nuxalia** : YugePen1s, you’re up.  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] YugePen1s** : War Leader, you can’t make me do this!  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] YugePen1s** : Im not gonna apologize to that *****  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth** : You dragged us into this, and now you can’t even honor your bet?  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth** : We’re already losing thousands of gold because of you, don’t make us lose our reputation as well.  
>  **[Map] YugePen1s** : Sorry  
>  **[Map] SakuraBlossom:** Sorry for…?  
>  **[Forest of Death Clan] Vice Leader SerNorth** : Do it properly, Yuge, or I’ll kick you out of the Clan myself.  
>  **[Map] YugePen1s** : Sorry for calling the chick with the buns a **** that flirts to get equipment with male players  
>  **[Map] YugePen1s** : That War Leader’s probably a guy playing a female anyways. No way a girl’s that good.  
>  **[Map] YugePen1s** : uh  
>  **[Map] Nuxalia** : …  
>  **[Map] SerNorth** : …  
>  **[Map] SakuraBlossom** : …  
>  **[Map] SakuraBlossom** : Wrong Channel?  
>  **[Map] System** : SakuraBlossom has challenged YugePen1s to a PVP Match!  
>  **[Map] Nuxalia** : If you don’t accept her challenge I’ll get the Clan leader to kick you out so I can beat you up myself you little ****

**(`皿´＃)**

_I can’t believe he’s still going._ Sasuke thought, watching as the player in booth 27 keep fighting with one hand while taking a swig of his water bottle.

The slender pair of hands flying over the keyboard played a deadly concerto of death for the poor, unfortunate soul who had stupidly challenged him yet again. As the red damage numbers appeared relentlessly, like little red soldiers marching off to war, the tiny blue chakra numbers that showed what the avatar was using were barely noticeable. The guy controlling the female avatar hadn’t even used a chakra rejuvenation potion between fights yet, and he was still only using taijutsu, this time without a married boost or the War Leader buff.

 _SakuraBlossom, eh?_ It was a bit of a feminine gaming handle, but it suited the pink-haired avatar in a red, Chinese-style top and white slacks. As he kept watching, one thought formed in his mind. _I want to meet this guy_. Sasuke started to speculate that the guy sitting in booth 27 probably was also a Konoha U student like him, but the hoodie could have also been a gift from some else, maybe an older brother or cousin. He looked kind of small.

The more Sasuke watched, the more fascinated he became. It was his third fight in a row, and he’d hardly used a third of his Chakra reserves, judging by the little blue bar on the screen. Then again, his reserve number… _it couldn’t be. There was no way it was that high._ It was nearly three times as high as he remembered his was.

He circled surreptitiously, trying to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Just as the player in booth 27 dealt the killing blow for the third time though, he leaned back with a sigh, and his hood fell off. As Sasuke saw pink hair and a delicate face with determined green eyes, though, he realized that the gamer he’d assumed was male was actually a woman. A very attractive woman.

Before he could process the fact that the talented taijutsu player he’d been impressed with was in fact a woman, the door to Kakashi’s office swung open. Naruto and Kakashi came out, loudly arguing about the merits of Icha Icha Innocence.

**(°◡° ♡ )**

> **[Map] InstantKillSh0t** : Dude,  
>  **[Map] InstantKillSh0t** : She’s kicked your ass three times  
>  **[Map] InstantKillSh0t** : Stop challenging her  
>  **[Map] Chun_Lee** : As expected of our Saku! \ ( ^ __ ^ ) /  
>  **[Map] Chun_Lee** : PVP fight Server number 4 banzai! Banzai! Banzai!  
>  **[Map] SakuraBlossom:** You still owe me a proper apology  
>  **[Map] SerNorth:**...  
>  **[Map] YugePen1s:** FINE  
>  **[Map] YugePen1s:** IM SORRY OK  
>  **[Map] System:** YugePen1s has left the Clan War Area  
>  **[Map] Nuxalia** : Tch  
>  **[Map] Nuxalia** : Idiots will be idiots  
>  **[Map] SerNorth** : Oh well. Thanks for the fight. See guys next time  
>  **[Map] SakuraBlossom:** ttyl! Ty for fight and cash :P  
>  **[Map] System:** The Clan War Area is closed. All participants will be ported to their respective halls.  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakuraBlossom** : I G2G guys  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakuraBlossom** : Internet cafe time limit  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakuraBlossom** : May not be back until tomorrow  
>  **[Rolling Jade Seas Clan] SakuraBlossom** : cya when I cya  
>  **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** Wait, Sakura  
>  **[Whisper to FrieswithThat] SakuraBlossom:** What’s up?  
>  **[Whisper to FrieswithThat] SakuraBlossom:** 90s  
>  **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** OK, should be quick  
>  **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** Let's get divorced

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND WE'RE OFF. I'm so excited to get started on this fic - this is going to be a wild ride. More feels on the Tumblr! Thank you to Lody, Ax, and Thorne for being my betas on the chapter! I'm kind of nervous to be returning to the Naruto Fandom, but I hope you'll enjoy this with me!


	2. The Newly Divorced Woman and Her Roommates

“ _Let’s get divorced!?_ Shannaro! _”_ Sakura nearly yelled, reading the last chat message she received. Her yell made the people around her turn to stare at her disapprovingly, and she turned red with embarrassment when she realized just how loud she was. Rushing to type out a response to her in-game husband, she only managed to get a ? out in whisper chat before she was forcefully logged off.

She stared at the blank screen. What in the world was that all about? It may have just been an in-game marriage, but that was so random! Hadn’t it been just yesterday that he’d been asking her to call him “hubby” in clan chat so they would seem more “likable”? Whatever that meant. They’d been married since couples quests came out years ago, and the single people in the fledgling Rolling Jade Seas clan had paired up to get the power boosts that came with doing couples quests. Now he wanted to get divorced?! Losing that power boost in future clan wars was going to suck.

Suddenly, she felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand up. Someone was watching her. Had probably been watching her for a while. She’d been so caught up in her PVP matches, she’d ignored the itching at her well-honed instincts, but now that Sakura was no longer focused on her screen, the sensation grew unbearable. Abruptly, she spun her chair around.

Only to find a slightly chubby guy with a red beard and a fedora glaring at her. She wanted to scowl at him, but he turned away suddenly.

“Can I help you?” She asked as politely as she could to the stranger.

“Er, I have that booth booked now. C-can you please leave so I can disinfect it?” He stuttered.

“Oh, sure,” She scooped up her bag and hopped out of the seat. “It’s all yours.”

Without looking back, she left the warm interior of the internet cafe for the nippy winter evening, pulling her burgundy wool coat closely around her. She smiled up at the soft snowflakes falling around her as they dotted her pink hair and scarf but then panicked when she caught sight of the billboard with the temperature and time.

“Oh No! I was supposed to be back at six! Urgh, they’re going to kill me!” Sakura cursed, then started running down the icy sidewalk. She didn’t notice the car that pulled away from the sidewalk at nearly the same time she started running.

Luckily, the internet cafe was near the west gate, which was the closest gate to the women’s dormitory. It was far enough, though, that by the time Sakura had charged through the campus, through the main door, up the stairs, and into the third door from the end of the hallway, she was more than a little out of breath. Her three roommates all looked up as she crashed through the door.

“You’re late!” Temari narrowed green eyes at her errant roommate from where she was standing in front of the mirror, getting dressed.

“Sorry, mother,” Sakura responded teasingly, throwing her backpack on her bottom bunk

“Don’t give me that lip, young lady,” Temari didn’t even look up from brushing her blond hair into short tails to take a scolding, maternal tone with her.

“I’ll take some lip if it’s fried and stewed, thank you very much,” Tenten muttered from where she was lounging on her bunk, scrolling through her phone, above Sakura’s bunk. She threw a pillow at her late roommate, “Hurry up, I’m starving.”

Sakura squealed when it hit her with perfect accuracy. “I’m sorry! It was only supposed to take half an hour, but some idiot pulled the whole girls don’t play games well crap on me, so I had to beat him up!”

“Idiot, schmidiot!” Tenten retorted, picking up her other pillow menacingly, “Who cares what the idiots on the internet say? Just cut his throat and there, problem solved!”

“S-Sakura-chan just lost her ph-phone, guys,” Her last roommate, Hinata, chided from the tiny bathroom attached to their suite, where she was using the other mirror to comb her long black hair, “B-Be nice to her.”

“She’s the one who claimed she ‘wanted to be free of the fetters of modern technology’,” Tenten complained, making sarcastic air quotes with her fingers as she quoted Sakura.

“Alright, alright, I was wrong,” Sakura laughed. “Let me just switch my books out, and we can go for dinner. You guys could have just gone without me.”

“W-We wouldn’t do that, Sakura-chan,” Hinata replied. A rare mischievous grin appeared on her face, “I-If it got out that we were starving our department beauty, a-all the boys in the faculty might come after us.”

“Hinata-chan!” Sakura picked up the pillow that Tenten had just thrown at her to hurl it at Hinata, but the other girl had already hidden behind the bathroom door. “Don’t talk nonsense, that ranking’s a load of baloney.”

“It’s also true,” Tenten grinned, “Us second years are the only four girls in the computer science department, and I’m preeeetty sure you’ve received the most confessions since we started.”

“That’s just because Temari-chan’s already dating Shikamaru-senpai, and the guys in our faculty are blind and don’t understand your charms!” Sakura protested, rummaging through the stuff on her desk at the side of the room.

“Speaking of Shika,” Temari changed the subject as she saw how the younger girl hated the topic, “The CS guy’s intramural basketball team has a game coming up at the end of the week. Can you guys come with me? They’re really going to need someone on the cheering squad since Uchiha-senpai’s not going to be there.”

Sakura stopped rummaging for her books to look up in disappointment, “Aww, not again!”

“You’re going to go into withdrawal soon, Sakura-chan,” Tenten teased, “After all, you are Uchiha-senpai’s number one fangirl.”

“Who can blame me? He’s a genius, he founded a successful start-up in University, and he’s hot as sin to boot,” She sighed, thinking of the campus heartthrob, “A single, hot guy is a fantasy for all single people to share. We need something to dream about, right?”

“U-Um,” Hinata was lost for words. She never quite understood Sakura when she started talking about Uchiha-senpai.

“If you say so…,” Tenten snorted, “I prefer someone more… talkative.”

“Psh, the point of fantasies is that you never end up meeting them. They stay fantasies,” Sakura lectured, gearing up on a subject they’d all heard many times before. They all groaned.

“Okay, okay!” Tenten cut in before Sakura got onto too much of a roll, “We got it, you fantasize about Uchiha-senpai.”

“That’s not - Shannaro!” Sakura burst out in embarrassment, but Tenten cut her off before she could continue.

“Anyways! I found an internship position we should apply to. Do you want me to put in your resumes?” She asked the room at large, “It’s at ROOT Corp.”

Sakura perked up, “ROOT Corp? I wonder if they’ll have any spots in the gaming team. They just developed…” She muttered to herself as she started rifling through her desk, books forgotten.

“No thanks. If my little brother doesn’t give Kankuro and me a job at the family firm this summer, I’m going to go back to Suna and throttle him myself," Temari muttered darkly. "Freaking kid geniuses graduating university before I even start."

"Saku-chan is a yes, but poor Miss Heiress here is a no," Tenten grinned. Temari stuck out her tongue at her, "What about our other Miss Heiress?" She looked at Hinata.

"Y-yes please, thanks Tenten-chan. Maybe then my father will believe I'm s-serious about not going into politics and becoming a trophy wife," Hinata muttered the last part under her breath from the bathroom, but Sakura was close enough to hear her. She abandoned her search and went over and gave her roommate a quick one armed hug. Hinata leaned her head on her shoulder, accepting the support. Judging from Hinata’s rare temper right now, she’d probably had a fraught winter break. The other two girls looked up, but seeing Sakura was comforting her, left her to herself.

"Sakura-chan, hurry up and go change. You can't go to the cafeteria looking like that," Temari scolded, eying her shapeless grey hoodie. "What if you run into Uchiha-senpai and his first impression of you is this?"

"Ah, you're right," Sakura jumped, and went to her closet to grab a change of clothes, "Give me two minutes!

“Wait!” She stuck her head back out, “Have either of you seen my little red notebook?”

“I-I think you left it on my desk,” Hinata surreptitiously wiped the corners of her eyes as she hurried to the desk near the back of the room. As she passed by Temari, the older girl reached out to give her a small, reassuring squeeze, which made her smile.

“I-I found it, Sakura-chan. You did l-leave it on my desk.”

"Hina-chan, pass me my laptop while you're down there?" Tenten asked, also giving the girl a warm squeeze with one hand.

“Thank you, Hina-chan!” Sakura yelled, her voice muffled by the door. She came out in a nicer pink pullover and dark rinse jeans, carrying her worn clothes to dump in the laundry hamper on the way to collect her notebook from Hinata. "Thank goodness I didn't lose it!"

"Cause then the world would know how obsessive a gamer the department beauty is? Who takes notes while they're gaming?" Temari teased her. Sakura, too, stuck her tongue out at Temari.

"Hey, Tenten also takes notes on her half a million side projects. We do what we can to cement our learnings," she retorted piously

"If you say so," Temari shrugged a bit helplessly.

"Saku-chan, you take better notes about your gaming experience than I do about class, never mind my irrelevant little side projects," Tenten picked up the conversation as she typed. "It's not the same thing at all. True nerds like you have different standards."

"I want to do game design someday," Sakura shrugged, not at all embarrassed or offended by Tenten calling her a nerd, "I'm just being prepared."

"Miss Scholarship student is t-truly an example for us all," Hinata smiled. Sakura mock-glowered at her but didn't continue to argue with them, as she had to get her shoes on.

"And done," Tenten shut her laptop, just as Sakura got the other black boot on.

“Finally!” Temari declared, “Let’s go!”

**(*^ω^)八(⌒▽⌒)八(-‿‿- )ヽ(・ω・)｡**

Sakura spent that evening laughing with her roommates over dinner and the next day getting up to speed with her classes. They were starting their second term in their second year, and it was just her luck that someone ended up stealing her laptop and phone right as they got back to campus. Sakura’s scholarship money had just stretched enough to be able to afford a new laptop (a necessity for a computer science student), so she had to make do without a phone for now.

She jogged in carrying her new baby under her arm, excited beyond belief to get it all set up and her life back online again. She’d been okay without a phone since her parents called her on the communal dorm phone instead, but having to go to internet cafes and borrow the lab at school had driven her slightly insane.

Tenten looked up from where she was working at the big table in the center of the room and grinned at the bouncy smile on the other girl’s face when she saw the package under her arm. “Excited to get back to your game?” She teased.

“I’m excited to be a model student again and not have to carry my files around on a USB,” Sakura retorted primly as she set up the computer, but then grinned when Tenten simply raised an eyebrow at her, “Okay, okay, I want to get back in-game too, but I’m a good scholarship student! I swear! It’s just….”

“Just what?” Tenten asked.

“Well, my in-game husband asked for a divorce,” she said absentmindedly as she downloaded the client.

“Your what asked for a what now?” Tenten spluttered, taken aback, “Sakura-chan, there’s a limit to how seriously you should take a hobby.”

“It’s not like there’s any feelings involved, I just want to know why he wants to give up the power boost. That’s a lot of work he’s throwing away there!” Sakura protested, then rolled her eyes at the incredulous look Tenten was giving her, “Oh come on, we all have hobbies. Yours are your side projects, mine is gaming.”

“If you say so,” Tenten shrugged. Sakura let her be as the launcher announced that the game was playable, if not entirely available. In a couple of keystrokes, she was in the world of the Way of the Ninja again.

**(⁀ᗢ⁀)**

She spawned in the middle of the Central Hidden City, a place she was familiar with but hadn’t been back to in a while as a high-level player with an advanced and convenient Clan Hall. It was laid out like a spoke and wheel, which connected an enormous web of paths, merchants, and stations.

The streets were filled with characters, both Non-Player Characters (NPCs) and player avatars alike. Some player characters were even seated off to the side, shouting advertising slogans for their own wares. She smiled with a bit of nostalgia to see them there. Before she'd joined a clan, she'd done the same, selling her elixirs and potions for some gold as an apprentice healer and herbalist. It was one of the few reliable ways to make gold since not many people had the patience for gathering and brewing that Sakura did.

When she checked her map, she realized that because she was still waiting for game assets to download, she was stuck in the Central Hidden city for a bit. Just as she was contemplating what to do, a new whisper chat came up on her screen.

> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** SakuraBlossom, can you meet me at the gateway of destiny?  
>  **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom** : sure, BRT

Sakura sighed. Oh yes, the divorce. If this was a real-life marriage, she might be offended at how quickly he seemed to want to get rid of her. Oh well, it was just a game thing. Might as well get it over with. The gateway was in the Central city, so she was safe enough to turn on autopilot. Taking advantage of the time, she asked him

> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom** : Wanna tell me why?  
>  **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** I have a girlfriend  
>  **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** and she plays this game  
>  **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom** : Congrats~!  
>  **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom** : Ooooh. OK, no problem!  
>  **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** Want me to send you a breakup fee?  
>  **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** This is going to hurt your DPS  
>  **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom** : Shannaro! No way  
>  **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom** : I wouldn’t be happy married to another guy with an irl girlfriend, anyways, even if it’s just in a game.  
>  **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom** : Besides, I won my top 4 PVP title w/o you.  
>  **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom** : I’ll be fine  
>  **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** Haha  
>  **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** You’re a good person, SakuraBlossom. Friends?  
>  **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** And Clanmates!

She finally arrived at the Magpie Bridge, seeing his familiar avatar under a red torii arch. The Gateway of Destiny was located on the little island, the pupil of a lake called the Eye of Heaven. It was where the marriage quest chain in-game started, and apparently where they had to register their divorce as well. Steadily, she crossed the bridge and stood beside him, looking at the two statues of a beautiful celestial maiden with a long wrap and a youth with a young calf.

Two tiny tears dripped from the eyes of the statues and floated in front of them like two crystal pearls. A box popped up in front of her screen.

“Are you sure you want to end your marriage with FriesWithThat? All associated bonuses and couple experience will be lost.”

Unwaveringly, she clicked yes.

> **[Announcement] System:** Two hands walking down the Way of the Ninja together have let go, two hearts no longer beat in sync. Should SakuraBlossom and FriesWithThat meet in the future, they are no longer two halves of one whole.

Instantly, her chatbox began to flash with whispers coming in from her game friends and clanmates. Ignoring them all, she simply whispered a farewell to Fries and wandered away

She was too lazy to explain it right now. They meant well, but she didn’t want to repeat herself. When CL got on, she’d just explain the situation to her, and CL, being the gossip she was, would spread it much quicker than Sakura would. Plus, she’d have more fun doing it.

Instead, Sakura opened her world map to choose something to do. Unfortunately, most of the explorable maps with interesting quests or objectives that she could do solo hadn’t finished downloading yet. Idly clicking through her skill menus and inventory, she realized that she was close to maxing out her medicine making skills and had the materials for it if she borrowed a few from the guild. She found a nearby crafting station and settled down for the industrious monotony of potion crafting.

Sakura could be patient when the reward was worth it. Top-quality medicine was rare because players had to spend time picking ingredients at just the right timing to get the best quality, if they had the herbalist level for it, or spend lots of money. Then they had to take a very precise set of actions, at very precise intervals, with a very precise amount of Chakra, for hours. Sakura had the materials and the timing down pat after countless hours of grinding, and her bloodline limit gave her enough of an advantage that she could even read her textbook and sip her tea while refining the medicine. It still took her two hours and a half hours as she read, until a loud, celebratory noise from the game made her jump in real life.

> **[Self] System:** Congratulations! You have maxed out your medicine making abilities. From now on, you have a chance at making God-Quality Medicine!

Sakura eyed her inventory with an appreciative nod, as it was stuffed to the brim with top-level Legendary, Ascended, and Exotic quality potions and elixirs of all kinds. This would be greatly appreciated by the guild, especially after the clan fight. Now that she’d run out of materials though, the maps she wanted for solo play still hadn’t loaded. She frowned. Now what was she going to do?

Walking out of the crafting station again, she wandered aimlessly until she was back at Magpie Bridge and stopped to just admire the beautiful scenery around the Gateway of Destiny. Since no one was getting married or divorced now, it was relatively deserted, allowing her to admire the way the light glinted on the waves and the breeze rustled the eternally blooming cherry blossoms. Ever falling, never staying, the petals dappled the gate and the statues of the two eternal lovers that blessed all unions in this world. A zither picked out a sweet melody that had the barest hint of melancholy, and the hint of chimes that played the harmony sounded almost out earshot. Way of the Ninja’s music was famous for a good reason.

Sakura decided that she would just sit down on the side of the bridge and do some meditation to increase her chakra control in-game while she worked on some practice questions in real life. This way, she could still twitch her mouse to be active, but get some work done with good background music.

First, though, she had to deal with her bladder.

**(//▽//)**

> **[Announcement] System:** Two hands walking down the Way of the Ninja together have joined hands, two hearts beat in sync. Join us today in celebrating the happy union of UWUAmixx and FriesWithThat today, as they become two halves of one whole.  
>  **[World] Stormtale11:** Congrats to the happy couple!  
>  **[World] PuppiesFromtheSky** : Congrats!!!! (^___^)  
>  **[World] PlasmarBoy:** Whooooooo hoo!  
>  **[World] DownShoeAbb3y:** Those names look familiar…  
>  **[World] DownShoeAbb3y:** Famous?  
>  **[World] EatChaseSleep:** Congrats!  
>  **[World] Wardex:** Wasn’t he just getting divorced?  
>  **[World] ForeverA10ne:** That's right he was!  
>  **[World] Beowulf69:** Lololol  
>  **[World] Sm1leSh1ningK1ss:** He da man  
>  **[World] CandyStriper:** Hang on  
>  **[World] DownShoeAbb3y:** Wasn't his ex-wife SakuraBlossom?  
>  **[World] DownShoeAbb3y:** 4th in the PvP match rankings?  
>  **[World] UWUKasumixx:** I heard she's not actually a girl  
>  **[World] ForeverA10ne:** Makes sense that he'd divorce her then  
>  **[World] CandyStr1per:** He’s not too shabby himself  
>  **[World] CanonFodder69:** Isn’t he vice-leader of the [Rolling Jade Seas] Clan?  
>  **[World] YugePen1s:** probably the only reason SakuraBlossom is on the PVP rankings  
>  **[World] UWUFukixx:** Hey, isn’t UWUAmixx the winner of this server’s most beautiful player contest?  
>  **[World] ForeverA10ne:** :O :O :O Goddess!  
>  **[World] CandyStr1per:** He is!  
>  **[World] Wardex:** Who’s your goddess?  
>  **[World] Ratinger:** GUYS THEY’RE SHOWERING COINS  
>  **[World] Gamermama:** Where???  
>  **[World] Mediumen:** Where?  
>  **[World] ReCOGNigtion:** Bridge?  
>  **[World] UWUKasumixx:** Yeah, come to [Magpie Bridge]!  
>  **[World] UWUKasumixx:** Luck Red Bags for everyone!  
>  **[World] UWUFukixx:** Come support the Bride and Groom!  
>  **[World] UWUFukixx:** Unlike SOME shameless people  
>  **[World] DownShoeAbb3y:** OMG  
>  **[World] DownShoeAbb3y:** OMG OMG OMG  
>  **[World] ForeverA10ne:** Isn’t that the ex-wife?  
>  **[World] CanonFodder69:** Yeah it is! SakuraBlossom!  
>  **[World] Wardex:** What’s she doing here?  
>  **[World] TugMyStrings:** Groom napping?  
>  **[World] UWUKasumixx:** Who dares?!  
>  **[World] CanonFodder69:** It’s not like UWUAmixx can beat her  
>  **[World] ForeverA10ne:** Who’s going to beat my goddess?!?!?!  
>  **[World] ForeverA10ne:** I’ll fight them!  
>  **[World] Wardex:** Are you ranked on the PVP player boards?  
>  **[World] ForeverA10ne:** I believe in the power of love!  
>  **[World] Beowulf69:** Groom napping Groom napping Groom napping  
>  **[World] UWUFukixx:** Come and try it!  
>  **[World] Ratinger:** Groom napping  
>  **[World] TeaSpiller:** Dis gon be gud  
>  **[World] Mediumen:** Groom napping!  
>  **[World] TugMyStrings:** Groom napping  
>  **[World] CanonFodder69:** Groom napping

Sakura stared at the screen in disbelief. What’s this about a groom napping? Is he sleeping during his wedding?

 _Wait...._ _Do they want me to kidnap the groom?_ _Shannaro! I just went to the bathroom!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we meet our first group of BFFs! One of the strongest things about Love O2O is not just its absolutely freaking adorable main romantic pair, but the friendships they also have. I'm a big fan of friendship fics (and if I tagged them all on AO3, we wouldn't have room for the summary, lol). Anyone guess that Chun_Lee was Tenten? Hehe, it's not her (Please don't guess in the comments, but feel free to DM your guesses here on Tumblr if you want!). If you want to discuss drama to character mappings, I'll go into them in more detail on my Tumblr (also under LScore) under the jump. Come join us over there!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who was so enthusiastic about this fic, especially to those of you who have also seen Love O2O and are looking forward to this ride. We're going to have a blast, guys. Finally, thanks to Ax and Thorne for betaing this chapter!


	3. Let's Get Married

_In the UWUAmixx x FriesWithThat wedding party chat…._

> **[Wedding Party] Maid of Honor UWUKasumixx:** You had better give Ami an explanation, Fries!   
> **[Wedding Party] Bridesmaid UWUFukixx:** Yeah, what’s your ex hanging like a bad smell for?   
> **[Wedding Party] Maid of Honor UWUKasumixx:** I thought you guys were just friends!   
> **[Wedding Party] Groom FriesWithThat:** Just ignore her. She was probably just in the area   
> **[Wedding Party] Bride UWUAmixx:** I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding, lay off guys.   
> **[Wedding Party] Bride UWUAmixx:** It’s my wedding. Don’t cause trouble   
> **[Whisper to UWUKasumixx] UWUAmixx:** Don’t let him off that easily   
> **[Wedding Party] Maid of Honor UWUKasumixx:** She can’t be so shameless as to want a red pocket from this wedding?   
> **[Wedding Party] Maid of Honor UWUKasumixx:** You can’t be regretting this.   
> **[Wedding Party] Maid of Honor UWUKasumixx:** If you are, forget about dating our Ami!   
> **[Wedding Party] Maid of Honor UWUKasumixx:** We won’t approve of you!   
> **[Wedding Party] Groom FriesWithThat:** Fine, I’ll clear it up with her.   
> **[Wedding Party] Groom FriesWithThat:** I’m sorry, Ami   
> **[Wedding Party] Bride UWUAmixx:** Kasumi doesn’t mean it, she’s just being overprotective   
> **[Wedding Party] Bride UWUAmixx:** Darling ❤   
> **[Whisper to UWUKasumixx] UWUAmixx:** GJ   
> **[Whisper to UWUAmixx] UWUKasumixx:** I gotchu

**( > . > )**

Horrified, Sakura stared at the world chat whizzing by and the ongoing conversation. _Wait... Do they want me to kidnap the groom? Shannaro! I just went to the bathroom!_ All of a sudden, a whisper popped up on her chat

> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** SakuraBlossom, what’s going on?   
> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** I thought we were OK   
> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** My girlfriend is very upset right now

“What’s wrong, Sakura-chan?” Tenten asked her, breaking through her frantic thoughts.

“World wants me to do a groom-napping,” Sakura replied absent-mindedly as she sat down to respond to him. She winced when she read the whispers and hurried to type back.

> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** I’m so sorry, I just had to redownload the game and I ended up afking here since no other maps were available.   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** I’ll come up with something   
> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** OK Thanks

“The what wants you to do a what?” Tenten repeated, baffled again, “Can you actually do that?”

“I think it’s a mechanic, but I’ve never looked it up. All I know is that it’s expensive, hard, and requires the kidnappee’s consent,” Sakura said as she quickly scrolled back through the world chat.

“Who’s the kidnappee, anyways?” Tenten asked.

“My ex-husband,” Sakura said and missed Tenten choking on her water, “Be quiet, I gotta figure out what to do.”

“What do you need to figure out, just leave!”

“If I leave now, people are going to think that I’m running away crying and heart-broken!”

“Why do you care? Let them think what they want.”

“I don’t care about my reputation, but I don’t want Fries’ girlfriend to feel bad or awkward.”

“He has a girlfriend? What was he married to you for?”

“I told you, we were married in-game for quests, and he just got one, hence the divorce. He’s a good guy, I don’t want to make things awkward for him.” Sakura pondered, then had an idea. “I got it!” She opened her inventory.

“What are you going to do?”

“Just watch me,” Sakura grinned and clicked a couple buttons. In the game, a new title was added under her name, and a couple of bottles floated in front of her

> **[Map] Merchant SakuraBlossom:** Come one, come all! For sale, one-time-only, max level Exotic potions and chakra elixirs from a max leveled medicine maker! In honor of today’s happy couple, 20% off!   
> **[Map] Merchant SakuraBlossom:** Limited stock!   
> **[Map] TeaSpiller:** Holy ****! Max-leveled exotic medicine?   
> **[Map] DownshoeAbbey:** Score! These never get sold on the open market!   
> **[Map] ReCOGNigtion:** This is my first time seeing them!   
> **[Map] Gamermama:** What a lovely thing to do to celebrate a wedding.   
> **[Map] Gamermama:** What a nice ex-wife   
> **[Map] ForeverA10ne:** My ***   
> **[Wedding Party] Groom FriesWithThat:** Let’s get on with it, Ami.   
> **[Wedding Party] Groom FriesWithThat:** She’s buying us a bit of a goodwill with this as an apology for causing a scene   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] UWUAmixx:** you promised you’d call me Honey :(   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] UWUAmixx:** It’ll make us more likeable, Darling   
> **[Wedding Party] Bridesmaid UWUFukixx:** Don’t be shy on our account, Fries.   
> **[Wedding Party] Groom FriesWithThat:** Yes, Honey   
> **[Whisper to UWUKasumixx] UWUAmixx:** What a *****!!   
> **[Whisper to UWUKasumixx] UWUAmixx:** Good will my ***!   
> **[Whisper to UWUKasumixx] UWUAmixx:** She probably just wants to get back with Fries   
> **[Whisper to UWUAmixx] UWUKasumixx:** He’s yours now, girl   
> **[Whisper to UWUAmixx] UWUKasumixx:** Now go bedchamber him!

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as the tide of public opinion turned favorably once again. As her last exotic potion was bought up, she removed her merchant tag and stood up on the side of the bridge.

> **[Map] SakuraBlossom:** I’m out now, folks!   
> **[Map] SakuraBlossom:** Thanks for your custom   
> **[Map] CanonFodder:** Awwww I didn’t get any   
> **[Map] Beowulf69:** I didn’t either :(   
> **[Map] DownshoeAbbey:** When are you doing this again   
> **[Map] SakuraBlossom:** When I feel like it ^_^

When she announced that she was out, the wedding procession had long passed by, probably off to their home instance for the bridal chamber event. Without a good sale or good show, the crowd dispersed quickly, except for one figure who popped up at her side. She smiled when she saw the whisper.

> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Sakura!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** What happened?!?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** You and Fries got divorced?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** No way!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Are you okay?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** He got an IRL girlfriend and she plays   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Of course I was going to give him a divorce!   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** I would’ve divorced him even if she didn’t play   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** It’s just a game, don’t be so serious   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** It’s a pity about the married boost though for clan fights   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** We can still kick butt.   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Of course we can!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Too bad this game doesn’t allow same-sex marriages   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Otherwise, I’d marry you so we could get the boost again

Sakura laughed at her reliable in-game friend. CL always knew what to say to cheer her up.

> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** I don’t want to get married for a while   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** It’ll be good to be able to solo play for a bit   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Fair enough   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** We have the clan fight safe period, for the next bit anyways   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Why were you selling all those exotic potions though, Saku?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** because I have better ones. I was going to drop them off at the guild bank later.   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Wow! You maxed out your medicine making?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** You’re really the best, Saku!   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** There’s a God-tier potion here for you, CL. Thanks for helping me with grinding the moongrass last month.   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** You don’t have to do that, Saku. My herbalist level isn’t that high, I can only do so much   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Yeah but you grinded out ****tons   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** It was a huge help. Don’t be modest   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Well if you’re going to be generous, I won’t be polite!

Sakura smiled as she offered her friend the potion.

> **[Self] System:** SakuraBlossom has offered [1 God-tier Max Level Potion] to Chun_Lee. Pending her acceptance or refusal.   
> **[Self] System:** Chun_Lee has accepted the offer!   
> **[Self] System:** SakuraBlossom has given [1 God-tier Max Level Potion] to Chun_Lee   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** btw   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Do you know who she is?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** No?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Should I?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** I forget that you don’t spend much time on the forums   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** She’s famous IRL there   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** She’s our server angel   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** What the heck is a server angel?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** You know how universities do a “campus beauty” poll?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** That kind of thing   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** except for the server.   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Oh that kind of thing.   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** It’s all nonsense anyways   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** If Fries is happy with her, it’s fine.   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** It’s actually kind of a cute love story. I wonder if they met in-game   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** They must have.   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** I saw them playing together a lot starting a couple of months ago   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** They must have met IRL and love at first sight or something   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Hey, is Fries hot in real life?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** How should I know? I told you, we never met irl.   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** You guys were married for half a year and you never met in-game?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Aren’t you both in Konohagakure?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** It’s just weird to meet in-game friends IRL   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Like breaking the fourth wall   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** It’s not that big of a deal!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Oh c’mon   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** If I wasn’t in Iwagakure, wouldn’t we meet up?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Sure, but that’s different   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Everyone wants to meet you, you know   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Me? Why?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Because....   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** …   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Spit it out, CL   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Okay Okay   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Everyone thinks you’re a guy playing as a girl!

“WHAT?!” Sakura yelled at the screen, causing Tenten to choke for the third time that evening. “Shannaro! I can’t believe even my best friend in-game thinks I’m a guy!”

> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** WTF!?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Girls play MMOs!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Yeah, but you’re so strong!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** and you never ask for equipment from male players   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** And you don’t have a face in your pfp   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** So because I like my privacy, I’m good at the game, and I don’t beg for equipment, I’m not a girl!?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Shannaro! What a load of bull****!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:**.... Uhhhh   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** I g2g   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** I have training   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** cya Saku~

Sakura huffed as she saw CL log off in a hurry. The rumours about her gender identity didn’t exactly surprise her. Even though there were just as many female players as male players, the gender bias was alive and well. Look at her in-game outfit, for example - even though she was very high leveled, she was still using very basic skins because she wanted her butt and boobs to be covered by more than a couple of pixels. Still, she didn’t exactly like being reminded of the fact, and she was surprised that even players who knew her well, like CL, thought she wasn’t a girl.

“Is there any hope for this shallow and vain world?” Sakura muttered, making Tenten snicker.

“If there’s none for you, there’s even less for the rest of us,” Tenten responded teasingly. Sakura only stuck her tongue at her roommate.

 _I just got divorced, did a bunch of grinding, and then nearly pissed off my ex-husband’s second wife, plus it’s getting late. What else can happen today?_ Think so, Sakura was just about to get up and log off, when she saw a whisper request from someone not on her friend’s list. Instead of ignoring the request like she normally would, something urged her to actually look at who was sending it. When she saw the name, her mouth actually dropped open.

Holy crap!

Holy shit!

Shannaro!

> **[Self] System:** Sm1rkMeister would like to whisper with you. Accept his request Y/N?   
> **[Self] SakuraBlossom:** Y   
> **[Self] System:** You may now whisper with Sm1rkMeister

Sm1rkMeister?! She recognized the handle. But to see it here of all places?

Back when she just started playing Way of the Ninja, she’d been really excited to roll her bloodline limit when she finished the academy tutorial stage at level 10. She hadn’t expected something super rare, but she’d hoped for more than the utterly mediocre “improved” chakra control she’d gotten. Depressed, thinking about restarting, she’d seen a forum post of the Sharingan in action.

The Sharingan was a legendary bloodline limit so rare, there were maybe only five users across the millions of Way of the Ninja players. The bloodline limit not only gave the user detailed information on any incoming genjutsu or ninjutsu with a cast time so they could copy or counter it easily, but it also gave them access to an insane unique genjutsu skill tree that was a real grindfest with the stupidest arbitrary events to unlock them. So after her own disappointing kekkai genkai and when a forum post touting the Sharingan this amazing one in action appeared, of course she had to click on it.

It’d been Sm1rkMeister in the video, fighting some long-forgotten opponent, as he fought for his first tournament title. She’d expected him to be a mostly genjutsu user because of the Sharingan. Instead, he was one of those rare, strong all-rounders. Normal all-rounders were too mediocre at all things to be useful in group content, which was most of the end-game. Sm1rkMeister was one of the exceptions. Not only did he flawlessly use both unique and recognizable genjutsu, he used his lightning and fire release techniques effortlessly. He was fast, his taijutsu was polished and precise, and he carried an armory that he deployed brilliantly. With his other number one titles like Most World First achievements and highest account value, he truly deserved the title of Server best. 

He’d inspire her to carry on despite her own terrible bloodline limit. Watching him and his variety of techniques, she realized that the game was so vast and flexible she could still make whatever she wanted out of the game, so long as she had the imagination, skills, and creativity. So she’d kept her mediocre bloodline limit - besides, she didn’t want to have to think of a new username...

However, just as she was getting good enough to actually join the same tournaments he fought in, he’d disappeared. Poof, as if he’d never been there. In the end, she’d been bitterly disappointed that they’d never been able to meet. Who’d have thought they’d randomly meet here, in a lonely corner of the busiest place on the world map?

> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** It’s an honor to meet you   
> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Hn.   
> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** What did you think of the wedding?

Sakura blinked at the question. Wedding? Did he mean Fries and Ami’s procession? She sighed. So that’s what had gotten his attention. She rolled her eyes. Even the former server best wanted to gossip?

> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** It was a spectacle

She was totally bullshitting. She hadn’t even had her camera pointed towards the procession - by the time she was back to her computer, they’d gone to the old man under the moon’s workshop for the red thread, crossed the bridge to ask for the lovers’ blessing, bowed at the feet of the mother goddess, and were in the process of heading to the home instance for the bridal chamber event. Still, judging by the number of people on the bridge and the value of the red packets to celebrate the union, it’d been a spectacle.

> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Want a bigger spectacle?   
> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister]** SakuraBlossom: ???   
> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** When you get married again   
> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** To who?   
> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** To me   
> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Let’s get married

Sakura stared open-mouthed for a solid minute as the thoughts and questions whirled in her head. When she still couldn’t figure out what was going on, she asked the only reasonable question in her mind.

> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Were you hacked?   
> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** No   
> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Prove it   
> **[Self] System:** SakuraBlossom has challenged Sm1rkMeister to a PVP Match!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe! Sasu vs Saku next chapter? Look forward to it! Long time drama watchers will have noticed some deviations from the original story, and that's what makes this a fusion fic, and fun. What can I say, I put the characters in the world and they wander. Thank you to Reglee and Ax for Betaing and reading through. As always, reviews, comments, favs, kudos, bookmarks, and flying messenger pigeons all make my day. There'll also be a more in detail AN about the various characters and events in this chapter on my Tumblr, like always, and you can now reach me on Discord to chat - LScore#8970. See you next time, guys!


	4. The Newly Engaged Man and His Roommates

> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Were you hacked?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** No  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Prove it  
>  **[Self] System:** SakuraBlossom has challenged Sm1rkMeister to a PVP Match!  
>  **[Self] System:** Sm1rkMeister has accepted. Combatants, you have 30 seconds to prepare before the fight starts

Sakura grinned, getting excited. She’d never had the chance to fight him before - this was going to be good. Thinking quickly, she decided on her strategy. She was a Taijutsu user and he was an all-rounder and a good one at that. So…

The game beeped at her, waving the proverbial start flag in her face, so Sakura instantly punched the ground between them, splintering it into many pieces. This created an uneven ground that would catch the other player off guard, giving her the couple of seconds she needed to catch the other player in a combo and beat the living daylights out of them. Unfortunately for her, Sasuke was already in the air at that point.

_As expected of the server’s number one._

She flipped out of his way in the nick of time, aiming a kick as his chin. He dodged and aimed a lightning slash at her torso that she managed to narrowly avoid by swinging her legs out in a split, clipping his outstretched arm sword as he dodged back. She took the chance to get on her feet again, only to immediately charge at him with a chakra reinforced fist.

He dodged. _Fuck, he’s fast!_

They clashed again, fist to block, palm to hand, foot to shin. Sakura took a hit to her left upper arm from his vicious scissor kick but managed to plow a fist into his stomach. Since she’d barely had a chance to charge it with chakra, though, he didn’t get knocked back. Instead, he immediately retaliated, bringing his elbows down onto her head.

She made the first mistake when she used a replacement jutsu to dodge out of the way, only to find he was already there. _Shannaro! I forgot about the Sharingan!_ Since the replacement jutsu had a short cast time, he’d been able to anticipate where she’d appear when she cast it.

He slammed a Chidori into her torso.

Sakura gritted her teeth as she watched her avatar bounce away like a rag doll. _Fuck, fuck, fuck that hurt!_ Her health bar was down by a huge chunk, while his was only slightly depleted.

 _Stay calm, Sakura. You can still do this._ As he charged another jutsu, she took a deep breath and started to cast two jutsus at once. She knew he’d see them, but he just had to ignore the first one. With a deep breath, she released the second jutsu she’d cast, six fiery shurikens aimed for his major Chakra points.

Even if he dodged easily, she had anticipated the direction he’d go and got there first.

 _Gotcha_. Scissor kick to catch him off guard, left hook to the arm, and a right partially-charged haymaker to the head.

Meister flew across their tiny arena in the sakura trees, but he wasn’t down for long. He charged back at her, chakra glowing, but she knew she couldn’t give him time to really properly prepare anything so she faced him directly and charged back, only to realize he’d precast a unique Sharingan technique. _Oh shit..._

Her screen filled with spinning red tomoe, totally obscuring her field of vision. Frantically, she started to charge and make hand signs herself, trying to get the ridiculously long sequence to dispel the illusion so she could see again. _Shannaro! This freaking bloodline limit is too OP! That dispelling jutsu is twice as long as most genjutsu casts are!_

She gritted her teeth, watching her health fall rapidly as he landed hits on her. She could only tell where they landed because of the Tenketsu diagram that normally showed her own open 360 chakra points now showed a couple of closed points on her left. She guessed then…

When she finally got rid of Meister’s genjustu, she was face to face with a complete Chidori flying right towards her face from above. She had no chance to dodge.

 _I hope this works_.

She released that first jutsu she’d cast just as it connected, slamming her character into a giant crater on the ground. Her health bar went almost entirely grey.

Almost.

Sm1rkMeister, who must’ve thought he’d won, stood over her avatar. She only needed that tiniest sliver of a second...

_Hah!_

She popped up in that sliver of time using the very last of her energy, slamming her fully charged upper-cut into his chin. This time, he flew high, high into the sky, and when his avatar landed at her feet, she knew it was really over now.”

> **[Self] System:** SakuraBlossom has won against Sm1rkMeister in the PVP Match! Fighting against each other is a way to find our own ways as Ninja. Well-fought, both combatants.

Sakura cheered, raising her arms above her head in victory. She hadn’t had that much fun in a PVP match in a while. Tenten looked over at her, but only rolled her eyes when she saw the goofy grin on her roommates face.

> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** GG  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** How did you survive the last Chidori?  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** GG  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** I’m a medic-nin  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** So I sealed off a few of your chakra points and fortified my body with Chakra while I was dispelling whatever you did with your Sharingan  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Plus I cast a split second heal as you struck  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Not bad  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** I didn’t know you were also a healing nin  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Probably should’ve guessed that you’d closed twelve of my tenketsu though.  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Aww, I only got twelve? Boo  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** You don’t use the byakugan. Don’t overestimate yourself  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** lol  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** You’re not half bad yourself  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Believe I haven’t been hacked?

Sakura nearly choked when she remembered why they’d been fighting in the first place. Even though he’d lost to her, it was only because he’d underestimated her. He also could’ve easily finished her off if he’d realized she could heal herself, as the fortifying and healing in the second before death was a common trick for medical-nin. He used the Sharingan and its various abilities so beautifully, she didn’t have any doubts. Hurriedly, she typed back.

> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Yeah  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** But then why do you want to get married?  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** To me?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** There’s a cross-server Couples PVP tournament coming up in a couple of months  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** You’re the top-ranked female player in the server  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** We complement each other  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** I want to win

Sakura raised an eyebrow. It was true, together the two of them would easily win their server. They probably also had a fifty-fifty shot at winning the all-server competition as well. Still… her first game marriage had been for quests. Would her second one really just be for PVP matches? Just as she was about to refuse, though, another whisper popped up on her screen.

> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Before you decide anything, check the rewards for the all-server competition.

_Why can’t he just tell me?_ Despite her annoyance, she obediently went to click through to the forum post announcing the Celestial Lovers Cross-Server PVP tournament that had just been put up a few days ago. When she clicked in and then started scrolling through the rewards list…

And scrolling…

And scrolling…

“Sakura-chan, you look like you’re about to drool on your brand new laptop,” Tenten warned her.

Sakura shot her a sheepish smile and flipped back to her game to quickly respond to Sm1rkMeister.

> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** I’m in. Let’s go get married.  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Not now  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** In three days  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Why three days?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** It’s an auspicious day in three days  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** I need time to prepare.  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeist0er] SakuraBlossom:** Prepare what? We can just do the quest chain now and keep it simple  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** It’s my wedding.  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** My wedding can’t be simple.  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** I may be a bit later than now, though. Is that OK for you?  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Sure…  
>  **[Self] System:** Sm1rkMeister wants to add SakuraBlossom as a friend. Type Y to accept or N to decline  
>  **[Self] System:** SakuraBlossom has accepted! You are now friends  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] Sm1rkMeister:** bye  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Bye?

**(￣_￣)・・・**

Sasuke logged out with a tiny smirk on his face. He'd made the right choice. She was interesting. Not many people, when faced with his so-called server best reputation, would have challenged him to a fight. Even fewer would have won.

"Hey, Asshole, do you know where Big Bro went?” Naruto called to him from where he was lounging on the upper bunk of the bed he nominally shared with Sasuke.

“Who?” Sasuke didn’t even bother to look up from his laptop.

“Chouji! Geez Sasuke, get it right! We’ve been roommates for so long, you could remember our birthdays!” Naruto complained,

“You better not let him hear you call him that, Naruto,” One of their other roommates, Kiba, warned him. He was sitting at the large table in the middle of their room on his laptop.

“It’s a mark of honor!” Naruto retorted, “He’s the oldest, so he’s big bro, then you’re second bro, and that Asshole is third bro, leaving me fourth. It’s not that hard!”

“I’m surprised you remembered it. ” Sasuke said acidly.

“Oh c’mon Sasuke, we’re brothers! After these four years!” Naruto complained, starting an old argument that Sasuke could not be bothered with.

“You need to stop wasting the few brain cells you have on kungfu movies and their naming conventions. Use them so you and Kiba can finish up the gaming engine before we graduate,” Sasuke still didn’t turn around. Naruto scowled at the back of his head, suddenly winging a clementine at him. But before it’d gone very far, Kiba leapt up and caught it in his mouth.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, Sasuke. We’ll get it done before we graduate. When have I ever let you down?” Kiba said casually as he peeled the clementine and began to eat it, “Speaking of graduating, how’d it go with Kakashi today?”

“The bastard gave us both copies of Icha Icha Innocence! What the hell does he think we need those for?” Naruto scowled at the brightly coloured books on Sasuke’s desk.

“Who cares about the books, did you get the lease signed for the price we wanted?” Kiba demanded impatiently.

“Of course we got the lease signed. Who do you take me for? Plus I had that asshole there,” Naruto grinned, pointing his chin at Sasuke. Sasuke didn’t rise to the bait, though, as he started writing an email. “I just don’t see why Kakashi gave us that crap to read dattebayo!”

“Hey, since you’re single, take all the advice you can get,” Kiba grinned back, the dark triangles on his face wrinkling, “In fact, give me it if you’re not gonna read it. I need to get a cute co-ed girlfriend this term. It’s my last chance to experience the springtime of youth at University!”

“You sound like Professor Gai, Kiba,” Naruto snorted.

“Hey, the man might have a point!”

Before Naruto could respond, the door swung open and their last roommate trudged in, carrying a giant bag full of chips and an already opened bag. “Chouji!” Naruto called, putting down his phone, “I was just wondering where you were. That’s a lot of chips.”

“Yeah, uh… I caught a good sale at the campus market, so I stocked up,” Chouji said a tad nervously.

“Hey, give me a bag,” Kiba grinned, reaching for the bag.

“No way!” Chouji shook his head as he shoveled the chips from the open bag into his mouth even faster.

“C’mon, don’t be stingy,” Kiba teased.

 _Why do I have morons for roommates?_ Sasuke didn’t even stop typing as Kiba lunged forward and went straight for Chouji’s chips. Even though he somehow managed to corner Chouji and steal a chip, Chouji turned bright red and grabbed a pillow. Naruto laughed like a hyena as Chouji chased a hollering Kiba around the room, determined to avenge the one chip Kiba had deprived him of.

They finally collapsed laughing on what should have been Sasuke’s bed, one pillow destroyed between the two of them. Sasuke didn’t bother to look at the destruction they’d wrought. _At least it’s not my mess to clean up._

“So Chouji, where did you go?” Naruto asked when he saw that Kiba had finally managed to shove another bag of chips into the other guy’s hands. Chouji was now munching away happily, his previous rage totally forgotten.

“I told you, to the grocery store,” Chouji replied through a full mouth, then he remembered something. “I ran into Yamanaka-san there, and-”

“Wait, Yamanaka-san? Yamanaka Ino from the business department, organizational behaviour major? Kiba interrupted him, excited “The campus beauty according to last semester’s poll? “How do you know her?”

“We went to the same high school,” Chouji gave him a weird look, “How do you know so much about her?”

“She’s the campus beauty! C’mon, that’s a thing! You went to the same high school as such a hottie?” Kiba sighed, “Man, I’m so jealous.”

“Yamanaka-san’s OK, but I like our department beauty better,” Naruto grinned, joining the conversation by poking his head off the side of his bunk.

“That’s right! I forgot that Haruno-san was part of our department! Sakura-chan, right? She came number two in the poll, right?” Kiba smacked his fist on his palm. None of them noticed that Sasuke’s fingers had paused on the keyboard.

“Exactly, we gotta be loyal to our department, dattebayo,” Naruto declared proudly.

“Man, I will take any hottie, our department or not,” Kiba complained, then sat up and smacked Chouji on the arm in a sudden realization, “Hey, since you know her, introduce me to Yamanaka-san. C’mon Chouji, be a bro.”

“Well she asked me to fix her laptop, so come with me,” Chouji offered.

“Yes!” Kiba cheered, fist in the air, “Thank you, oh great one! I owe you a bag of chips for this!”

“I don’t really understand why, but I’ll take it,” Chouji shrugged.

“Oi, are you thinking of hitting on the campus beauty?” Naruto laughed, “Fat chance you’d have with your face.”

“Nu-uh, you misunderstand my genius. Our target isn’t the campus beauty, that’s aiming too high. I know my limits,” Kiba made a serious face as he explained it,”No, our goal is … her girlfriends! Think about it, a hot girl like her is bound to have cute, overlooked girlfriends. All we gotta do is get close…” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Chouji and Naruto, who both made “what’s wrong with this guy?” faces at him.

“Oh come on, it’s a genius plan!” Kiba protested at their looks, “As for the campus beauty, we’ll leave her for that one,” He cocked a thumb over his shoulder in Sasuke’s direction.

“I’ll pass,” Sasuke said as he sent his email and closed his laptop. He started packing his things to leave for the night.

“What!? C’mon Sasuke!” Kiba protested, “It’s the campus beauty! The campus beauty dammit!”

“Go by yourselves. I’m getting married in three days in Way of the Ninja. Since I’m now a family man, it would be inappropriate for me to go fix another girl’s laptop to flirt with her. ”

The three of them were so flabbergasted at what Sasuke said that none of them noticed when he slipped a brightly bound book into his bag. Just when he got up to leave, however, Kiba and Naruto both recovered from their shock accost him.

“Who are you getting married to? How did you meet her? In-game?” Kiba grabbed his shoulder, “When did you start playing again anyways?”

“Yeah, why are you always such a loner? Come play with us, asshole.” Naruto demanded, then grinned when he thought of something, “Bring our new sister-in-law and come do a mission with us. I want to meet this legendary girl who managed to catch your interest,”

“We’re invited to the wedding, right?” Chouji asked, “You’re going to throw a banquet?”

Thinking of SakuraBlossom and her reaction to his idea of a spectacle, Sasuke smirked a little, “You’re invited. Bring others. I’ll introduce you to … your future sister-in-law tomorrow. Bye.”

With that, he left the dorm, leaving the three staring at the closed door, mouths agape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe Happy Easter to those of you who are celebrating! I hope you enjoyed this chapter - it's a bit earlier than usual. I don't usually write a whole bunch of fights and action, but this fic is turning out to have a lot more than I planned for >.> So that's been a challenge. Extended ANs as always on the Tumblr, especially for those of you who are trying to track how closely this'll track to the drama/webnovel. Thank you to Reglee for beta-ing the chapter, and thank you for reading it! As always, reviews, comments, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and interpretative dances always make my day. See you next week!


	5. Meeting Sister-in-Law

“I’ll introduce you to … your future sister-in-law tomorrow. Bye.”

_Tomorrow…_

> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** That’s why I’m telling you  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** you’re spending too much money on the wedding  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** you don’t need to buy a full banquet with 24-hour buffs!  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** I don’t have anything better to spend it on  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** and I said spectacle. I mean spectacle.

Sakura sighed, wanting to slowly bang her head against the desk. They’d been wandering around the Central Hidden City together, ostensibly planning their wedding. In reality, though, they’d been having the same argument over and over again for the past hour, until she wanted to reach through their screens and take the guy’s credit card away from him for his own good. He’d converted an absurd amount of in-game currency into cash shop currency, so much so that she was pretty sure he’d single-handedly changed the exchange rate.

 _This was the true difference between a Server-Best and Number four on the current rankings_. While she wasn’t poor by any stretch, she wouldn’t have been able to lay-out this much gold to buy them the top tier wedding appearance package, including new mount and outfit skins. He’d bought her the princess sedan, for crying out loud! It was too extravagant for a one-use item. He even bought a fully fixed up house in his home instance so that, and she quoted, “their bridal chamber event could happen properly.” Like most serious, top-level players, Sakura’s home instance contained little more than a shed, because the house was purely an aesthetic addition. _What was he spending so much for?!_

> **[Party] System:** OldRamenMan, Beowulf69, and RollOutBoy have joined the party.

Three new figures popped up beside them. A blond avatar in a white cloak and an orange and black sweater, a beastmaster avatar with a large white dog and the distinctive triangular facial tattoos, and a truly enormous avatar in samurai armor and a red trench coat appeared on the screen. Who were these guys? She didn’t send out the party invite, so it must have been Meister.

> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** What’s thirty-seven plus eight times four?  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** 69?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** YOOOO SHE’S AN ACTUAL HUMAN  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Hehe 69  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** So how’d this ***hole manage to trick you into marrying him?  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Wulf!  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Don’t be rude  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Fine  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** How did Third bro manage to trick you into marrying him?  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Don’t worry, we won’t call you ***hole sister-in-law  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** You can just be 3rd SIL

Sakura rolled her eyes at the screen. _Shannaro! Who wants to be your sister-in-law?_

> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Thank you?

The other three guys who’d just joined Sasuke at the big table in the middle of the dorm room all jumped.

“This guy’s actually getting married!” Naruto crowed. “We’re no longer the forever alone team anymore.”

Kiba grinned, then made a face when he realized something, “Even this asshole, the eternal bachelor has a game wife now… How pathetic are the rest of us? I gotta hurry and find a girlfriend.”

“She seems nice,” Chouji shrugged, taking another handful of chips, “Congrats, Sasuke.”

> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Who are you guys?  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** They’re my regular static

_That explains it._ Now that she was divorced, she no longer had her old static with Fries and a couple of their other guildmates. Considering most end-game content was group content, she was glad he had a standing group to play with that she could shamelessly hop into.

> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Hi, nice to meet everyone!  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** heyyyyyyyyyyyy!  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** yooooooooooooooooo  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Hello!

“Third Sister-in-law’s username looks familiar for some reason…” Chouji muttered through a mouthful of consomme potatoe-y goodness.

“She must be on the rankings or something,” Naruto shrugged.

“AH! I know!” Kiba suddenly exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise.

> **[Party] Beowulf69** : 3SIL, are you FriesWithThat’s ex-wife?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69** : The guy who just married the server beauty?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69** : And now you’re with this ***hole?

Sakura nearly spit out her drink. Now she knew where she’d seen one of their usernames before. Wulf had been one of the voices calling for the groom-napping! She decided to tease back a little.

> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Meister and I are…

She wanted to let their imaginations run wild before she reassured them that she and their friend were only getting married for the Couples Tournament, but before she could curb their imaginations, Meister responded first.

> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** That’s right  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** She trusted the wrong kind of people before  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Don’t hold your 3SIL’s past against her

There was a collective headdesk in the guy’s dorm as Sasuke typed this with a perfectly straight face.

“Oi, oi,” Kiba protested, “What’s up with these cliche melodramatic lines?”

Sasuke innocently stared back at him. Kiba obviously hadn’t read Icha Icha Innocence.

“Fine, fine,” Naruto grinned, “We get it, you like the girl.” He typed back:

> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Don’t worry, 3SIL  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Forget about your ex.  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Our Meister is a much better catch  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** That’s right  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Let’s do a mission.  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Lady’s choice, 3SIL?

Sakura was still laughing at Meister’s cheesy lines when Wulf so gallantly offered her the choice of mission. Recovering herself, she wandered over to the mission board and browsed through them. With a static this high level, they should be doing A or S level missions, but Sakura also didn’t want to sour relations with her new in-game husband’s friends if they couldn’t complete it. She just wanted to get to know these guys. Suddenly, she saw a familiar mission with a “C?” rating and grabbed it. _Perfect!_

> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Let’s do this one  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** [Escort the Bridge Builder to the Land of the Waves]

That mission still gave Sakura nightmares. Back when she, CL, Fries and their old guild leader were starting out as genin, they’d taken this mission, thinking they’d end up with some C-level enemies, and got massacred in about three seconds flat by two S-level nins. CL and their guild leader, being who they were, had insisted on trying until Sakura had put her foot down and 2v1 PVP-ed them to get them to give up. After that, she’d triple checked the ranking for any mission she took for a good, long time.

> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Sounds good.  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Let’s do it  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Yay! TY ^_^  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** A C-ranked mission?  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** OK, I guess  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** aite aite I said lady’s choice. But why this one, 3SIL?  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** It’s a scaling mission. Max possibility is an S-ranked final boss, right 3SIL?  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Yep!  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** I once got the S-ranked mission as a genin and died horribly  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** So I’ve always wanted to see if I could beat it again  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** But no one ever wants to do this mission  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** With our group, we probably have a 50% chance at the S-ranked boss  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** and if it’s the other 50% chance…  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Put up with it as a wedding present, okay?  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Ooooooooooh  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** You’re so smart, 3SIL

“Turns out this third sister in law really is smart,” Kiba nodded in approval.

“Thank you,” Sasuke said.

Kiba glared at him. “We weren’t complimenting you, Asshole.”

Sasuke only smirked, “I’m the one who found the intelligent fiancee. Who have you found?”

Naruto snickered as Kiba angrily snarled at Sasuke. Kiba looked like he was ready to climb over the table to throttle him, but Sasuke, being the asshole he was, only rubbed salt into the wound with what he typed next in chat.

> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** This doesn’t count as a wedding present  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** It’s only what they should do

Sakura rolled her eyes. This new husband of hers was too indulgent; if she wasn’t careful, his friends were going to hate her. Escort missions were long and time-consuming, and if all they came out with was a level C reward, wouldn’t they be too fed up?

> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Let’s go then  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** 3SIL, can you pull?  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Sure

A blinking light popped up on their minimaps at the south gate of the city. When the party got there they met an old man with spiky grey hair - the NPC would start the mission.

> **[Party] Bridge Builder Tazuna:** You’re the group that’s going to take me back to the Land of Waves?  
>  **[Party] Bridge Builder Tazuna:** You look like a formidable group  
>  **[Party] Bridge Builder Tazuna:** Uh… you know this is a C-rank mission right?  
>  **[Party] Bridge Builder System:** Mission Leader SakuraBlossom, Type Y to start the mission. Type W to wait for more teammates, Type N to forfeit the mission.  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Y  
>  **[Party] Bridge Builder Tazuna:** Alright, let’s get going!  
>  **[Party] Bridge Builder Tazuna:** [muttering] I feel better with such a strong group. Even if we run into…  
>  **[Party] Bridge Builder Tazuna:** N-Nothing! Nevermind!

They started to move out, trotting easily through a relatively safe low level area, which gave them the ability to chat leisurely.

> **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Huh  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** They changed the dialogue from when you’re a genin  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** That’s pretty cool  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Oh, what’s your fighting style and roles?  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Meister I already know because we fought, but I’m not sure about the three of you  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** wait  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** you fought that ***hole? Who won?  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** She did

“What?!” Naruto looked at Sasuke dubiously, “You didn’t let her win, did you?”

“Of course not, idiot,” Sasuke didn’t even bother to look at him, “My wife is strong.”

“Oi, oi,” Ever the peacemaker, Chouji scowled at both of them.

> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** I have the multi-size kekkai genkai, so I’m a taijutsu based, passive ninjutsu main  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Nice!  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** I have the dog tamer line, so I’m a ninjutsu/taijutsu based main  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** My partner here is Akamaru  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Aww he’s so cute!  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** I’ve got one of the tailed beasts for a kekkai genkai, so I’m an offensive ninjutsu main  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Oh wow, that’s so cool!  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** You guys all have such cool bloodline limits  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** I’m a little jealous **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** They’re nothing special

Sakura squinted at her chat. _Was he jealous? No, he couldn’t be_. She was thinking too much into it

> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** What about you, 3SIL?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Yeah, I know you’re on the PVP leaderboards  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** But I’ve never seen what your bloodline limit is?  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Oh, mine isn’t anything special  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** just a basic improved Chakra control  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** I’m a taijutsu/medical nin main

Chouji frowned, “Don’t medical nin usually need teams? Especially taijustu mains.”

Kiba eyed the chat dubiously, then looked at Sasuke again. “You sure you didn’t let her win?”

Sasuke didn’t even bother answering him

They leisurely continued along the road, with Kiba and Chouji easily taking care of most of the mobs along the way, letting the active ninjutsu and healer nins conserve their chakra for the final boss. SakuraBlossom tried to jump in a few times, but considering they were only running into B-rank missing nin and bandits, she didn’t insist on it. Instead, she focused on maintaining everyone’s chakra levels by passing out some super basic chakra potions - _Good thing I did so much crafting yesterday._

> **[Party] Beowulf69:** this is the life!  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** It sure is comfortable partying with a medical nin  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Thank you 3SIL  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** It’s my job  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Don’t get used to it  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister]SakuraBlossom:** Is everything OK?  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister]SakuraBlossom:** Did I do something wrong?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** You’re fine  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** They’re bad influences

“Oh come on, asshole!” Naruto protested. “We finally have some time to play and a medic-nin to play with us! Don’t be stingy!”

“Sasuke,” Chouji asked, sounding very serious but grinning widely, “Are you going to be one of those guys who ditches his friends when he gets a girlfriend?”

“They’re not even married and he’s already whipped,” Kiba sighed with regret.

Sasuke didn’t even look the slightest bit ashamed or annoyed.“Make fun of me once you have your own in-game wives,”

“Che!” Kiba clucked his tongue in irritation. If he couldn’t irritate this jackass then…

> **[Party] Beowulf69:** you know 3SIL….  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** you’re going to have keep a good eye on your husband once you’re married  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** In fact…  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** He may not have a girlfriend but...  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** He doesn’t sleep in his bed most nights...

Kiba snickered behind his laptop, deliberately not looking at Sasuke as he typed it. He wasn’t wrong, exactly - Now that Itachi deemed him suitably socialized, he let his younger brother come back to his more spacious faculty housing and Sasuke’s private room to sleep. Naruto caught on to what Kiba was up to, and added some fuel to the fire.

> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** In fact…  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** We don’t often see him in class either…

Sakura frowned. So Meister and his static were still students? She was 90% sure they were just getting a rise out of her, but still. She had her bottom line, after all.

> **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** So you guys live together?  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister]SakuraBlossom:** Listen, if you have anyone who might misunderstand, I’ll reimburse you for the wedding costs  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** We live in the same dorm  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister]SakuraBlossom:** I don’t do love triangles even if it’s just a game  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister]SakuraBlossom:** We can still call this off  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** … I’m moving back to the dorm next weekend  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Hide your laundry **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** There’s no one else for me, besides you  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** There’s just a lot of couples quests to do before the tournament  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** We need the boost  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** What!?  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** ...  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** No, I take it all back!  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Ignore them  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Like I said, bad influences  
>  **[Party] Unknown Missing Nin:** Well, well, well, what do we have here?  
>  **[Party] Tazuna:** ARGHH!

Sakura jumped at the sudden scream from the NPC, not knowing where the sound was coming from, but Meister reacted the quickest and punched the shadowy figure in the face. The figure disappeared in a puddle underneath them. Tensed, Sakura got ready to start the encounter. A light mist started to form around them.

> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** I can see him.  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Go, we’ll support

Eerie, gruff laughter echoed through the clearing. They were standing on a dry road between two marshes, and while Sakura thought the sound came from the south marsh, Meister headed north. She trusted him, though, and the trust was paid off when a bunch of clones of a missing nin with a bandaged face and gigantic sword dotted the Marsh. At first glance, it looked like Meister was outnumbered, but with his Sharingan, Sakura knew he could handle it. And she knew what was coming. Old Ramen Man, though, didn’t, and started to make hand signs and move forward.

> **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Old Man, don’t  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Stay back

“What the hell?” Naruto yelled.

“Just listen to her, idiot,” Sasuke murmured, his gaze focused on the fight.

“But Sasuke, it’s a S-Nin. You’re good, but no-one is that good,” Chouji reasoned. He grabbed another handful of chips.

“Yeah, she -” Kiba started in, but froze when Third Sister-in-law’s avatar moved suddenly in a huge, flashy punch. This time, the fist connected with the NPC and threw him across the south marsh, landing in the bog.

> **[Here] Masked Boy Mercenary Nin:** *cough* You’re fast  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Old Man, Rollout, go  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Be careful, he’s also an S-rank missing nin.  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Squishy, but hard to hit

“The hell is up with this mission? Two S-Rank missing Nin?” Naruto muttered, but he and Chouji shifted their avatars towards the figure who’d been thrown into the south marsh. The fog continued to roll in. They both dodged the flying needles that flew in their direction, and both directly engaged with taijutsu, not giving the NPC any time to cast anything.

> **[Here] Tazuna:** Oh no, it’s Zabuza!  
>  **[Here] Tazuna:** Demon of the Hidden Mist!  
>  **[Here] Tazuna:** Dammit Gato! Why is he so heartless to bring these rabid dogs to the Land of Waves?  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist:** If you know that much, just lay down and die!  
>  **[Here] Masked Boy Mercenary Nin:** Zabuza, please allow me to handle them  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist:** Go, boy.  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist:** Don’t disappoint me, Haku

Sakura focused her healing on Meister. An S-ranked Nin was a lot for most, and Meister kept dodging out of her effective healing range. He wasn’t used to fighting with a medic nin. But this was an escort mission, so she didn’t dare leave Tazuna alone if the boss targeted him.

> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Where do I go, 3SIL?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Meister says the rising fog is starting to hurt his Sharingan  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Meister, kite him closer so I can heal you  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Around my marker  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Wulf, you can still find him, right?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Akamaru can find his scent, yeah  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** can Akamaru transform?  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** into anything?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Yes?

As Kiba coordinated with SakuraBlossom and Sasuke focused intently on his fight, Naruto and Chouji both suddenly swore loudly.

“Shit I didn’t even see him cast that!” Naruto swore. They’d been doing fairly well against the young enemy nin, to the point where they’d rapidly got him down to 75% without needing any special attacks. Then Chouji and Naruto found themselves surrounded in a cage of ice mirrors that they couldn’t break free from. Their quarry had somehow hidden himself in the mirrors.

“I think the NPC has a bloodline limit,” Chouji muttered as he targeted one of the mirrors with the masked boy reflection. His damage numbers were good, but taijutsu could only do so much. The mirrors were somehow healing themselves faster than his damage output.

“Holy shit!” Naruto swore, narrowing his eyes, “I was wondering why he was an S-rank enemy. Chouji, give me some cover.” Naruto started making some hand seals to activate his 9-tails rampage skills.

“Sure,” Chouji muttered, activating his own bloodline limit. He was so focused on the fight he couldn’t snack any more. Just as he became huge, deadly senbon started flying from various mirrors and took him down to half health, “Shit!”

> **[Party] Beowulf69:** 3SIL, let’s do it  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** The fog’s getting too thick  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** Meister get ready  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** We’re going to pin him

Sakura was already swearing since she hadn’t known about the NPC’s bloodline limit, but she had to put that away to get Meister some help, he wouldn’t be able to last. The fog rolling in was starting to interfere with even her healing abilities - she couldn’t see the right chakra points that would make the healing the most effective. With a prayer that this worked, she threw two enormous wind-demon shuriken towards Meister and hoped for the best.

The two large Shurikan temporarily blew away the fog, giving her enough visibility to be able to target him to heal him at least briefly. They flew past Zabuza, whose AI was good enough to dodge the two gigantic missiles, and triggered him to start taunting. _What kind of asshole sadist dev wrote this guy?_

> **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** Nyahahahaha you missed

Suddenly, the swordsman’s annoying laughter cut off. When SakuraBlossom had thrown the enormous shuriken at the boss, they’d actually been Kiba’s avatar and Akamaru transformed, allowing the two to sneak under the NPC’s guard.

> **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** Wait, what?  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** AHHH Let go of me!

“Got him,” Kiba yelled, exhilarated. “Her plan actually worked, damn it!” His fingers never left the keyboard as his avatar and Akamaru immobilized the NPC with one of his kekkai genkai skills.

“Nice,” Sasuke murmured as he finished casting the jutsu he’d been prepping. With them holding the NPC down, Sasuke had a point blank shot with one of his most powerful ninjutsu. Just before he could finish Zabuza off, though, Chouji and Naruto both slammed their hands on the desk at the same time.

“What the hell?!”

“Where’d that asshole go?!”

A small, masked figure appeared in front of his chidori. Sasuke’s eyes widened in disbelief when the boss that Naruto and Chouji had been fighting suddenly blinked into existence in front of him, taking the hit for the heavily injured mist nin behind him He narrowed his eyes when he realized his avatar’s feet were now immobilized, and it wasn’t a kind of immob he could escape. He quickly started making the half hand seals for SakuraBlossom’s body fortifying jutsu. All of their screens flashed to the same cutscene.

> **[Here] Haku:** Zabuza…  
>  **[Here] Haku:** Please.... Let me… protect you  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** Haku…  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** Ahahahaha  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** Thank you boy  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** I knew picking you up wouldn’t be a waste

“Shit!” Sakura swore as Zabuza somehow broke free of his shackles and started whirling his sword around him in great arcs, rapidly killing first Akamaru and then Kiba. Something must have glitched at the previous cutscene, because they weren’t dodging. She could see from the party menu that Meister was holding out only because of her fortifying jutsu he must have copied yesterday. _That is an OP kekkai genkai! It took me months to develop that jutsu!_

Still, he wasn’t going to survive the next attack. Before she consciously made a decision, her avatar was already running towards the remaining boss.

**ヽ(`⌒´メ)ノ**

“Holy shit. Remind me never to get Third Sister-in-law angry,” Naruto muttered, staring wide eyed at his screen. The other two nodded in mute agreement. Sasuke allowed himself to smirk slightly. _They shouldn’t have doubted my wife._

Her avatar had appeared like a pink fury, and just as Zabuza had gotten stunned from the recoil of using such a large berserker attack, she’d beaten him with a series of lightning fast, devastating taijutsu moves that blew craters into the rice paddies they were fighting in.

“Why isn’t he dead yet?” Kiba frowned, looking closely at the NPC’s health bar. There was only the slightest sliver left on the bar, but Zabuza was now invulnerable and not an enemy any more.

> **[Here] Slimy Businessman:** Tch  
>  **[Here] Slimy Businessman:** Zabuza, what am I paying you for?  
>  **[Here] Slimy Businessman:** Can’t even kill a poor old man?  
>  **[Here] Tazun:** Gato!  
>  **[Here] Gato:** Oh well, you might as well finish off this disgrace and save me having to pay him  
>  **[Here] Gato:** Go, men! Bring me Zabuza’s head  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** Tch  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** Keep dreaming.  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** I’m a shinobi, not a dog  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** My way of the Ninja is not crooked  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** I may take your dirty money, but…

Sakura watched the figure charge forward into the mob of characters at the edge of the clearing, ready to attack if the NPC wasn’t meant to take out the random, D level mobs at the edge of the clearing. Zabuza sliced through them easily, destroying the hoard. She watched as her screen faded to another cut screen as Zabuza charged at a cowering Gato, spearing him on a kunai with the last of his strength. Gato died in quite a graphic squeal that made Sakura shudder. _He sounds like a pig._

In a low, raspy growl, Zabuza's last words were voice-acted.

> **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** I am a human being!  
>  **[Here] Zabuza, Demon of the Mist:** Haku...

As the cut screen ended, the guys clapped and cheered as Tazuna began to run forwards at a much faster speed than the one they’d been escorting him at this whole mission. Chouji and Naruto chased after him, while Sasuke waited for his in-game fiancee to resurrect Kiba and Akamaru to complete the mission. _She’s much faster than any of us would have been_.

> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Thank you 3SIL  
>  **[Party] Mission Leader SakuraBlossom:** YW

She smiled when Wulf’s avatar ran off, Akamaru following at his heels. She was about to follow him, when she noticed something about the bodies after the fight. She frowned. _Could it be…?_

> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** ?  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Sorry, it’s just…  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Can you come back with me after the mission ends?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Sure  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** What are you guys waiting for?

They collected the reward at the entrance to the Land of the Waves, after a mob of villagers came up and Tazuna declared.

> **[Here] Tazuna:** Gato is dead!  
>  **[Here] Tazuna:** Peace has returned to the land of the waves  
>  **[Here] Tazuna:** We owe our lives and livelihoods to this courageous group, SakuraBlossom and her teammates.  
>  **[Announcement] System:** SakuraBlossom and her 3 teammates have freed the Land of the Waves from the tyranny of Gato! Congratulate them for a hard-fought mission. The [Escort the Bridge Builder to the Land of the Waves] will be unavailable until next reset in 14 hours 20 minutes.  
>  **[World] Pink1eP13:** Congrats!  
>  **[World] M0ffin:** I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. Congrats!  
>  **[World] uwuKasumixx:** Humph, just a lame C-rank mission  
>  **[World] uwuKasumixx:** What’s the point of a world announcement?  
>  **[World] SerNorth:** Congrats!  
>  **[World] SerNorth:** It takes luck and skill to take that scaled mission off the board until reset  
>  **[World] Nuxalia:** Only a n00b would think that it’s just a C-rank mission  
>  **[World] TeaSpiller:** Congrats!  
>  **[World] SakuraBlossom:** Thanks all!  
>  **[Party] MissionLeader SakuraBlossom:** and thank you guys! GG ^_^  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Whoohoo! GG 3SIL  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** gg  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** GG! Thanks 3SIL  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Wow, these are good rewards  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** GG  
>  **[Party] MissionLeader SakuraBlossom:** I’ve wanted to do that mission for forever  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** You guys should leave first. We still need to talk about the wedding in 2 days  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Isn’t the day after tomorrow…  
>  **[Party] MissionLeader SakuraBlossom:**?  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** It’s fine. We’ll be a bit late, that’s all

“Shut up, Kiba,” Sasuke said expressionlessly, “Don’t say too much.”

“We’ll be done with the presentation in plenty of time for this guy to get married,” Naruto soothed.

“Why the day after tomorrow though?” Kiba complained, “You two better not screw up the presentation, we need the seed money.”

“When have we ever let you down?” Naruto retorted.

“Easy guys,” Chouji said.

“The day after tomorrow is an auspicious day for weddings,” Sasuke said, making the other three choke once again at the sentimental words coming from his perfectly serious mien, “We’ll focus on prep for the presentation tomorrow. That’s why I want to talk to her today” He finally looked up from his laptop to look each roommate in the eye, “So scram.”

“Fine,” Naruto laughed good naturedly, saying goodbye to SakuraBlossom in game and logging out. The other two followed as Sasuke moved from the large table in the middle of the dorm room to one of the desks in the back to give him more privacy.

> **[Party] System:** OldRamenMan, Beowulf69, and RollOutBoy have left the party  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** They didn’t have to go  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** I feel bad, I think they’re going to miss out on the secret achievement  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] Sm1rkMeister:** It’s fine  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] Sm1rkMeister:** What secret achievement?  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Oh, I just noticed that Haku and Zabuza’s bodies didn’t disappear. I think we might be able to bury them?  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] Sm1rkMeister:** ah  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** What was it about the wedding?  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** We don’t have to buy anything else, do we?  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] Sm1rkMeister:** No, I just wanted them to go away

Sakura started laughing at Meister’s latest chat message. She liked his teammates, but it seemed like he just tolerated them. _I’d better keep him entertained, then._

> **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** I should probably let you know we might be late tomorrow  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** So if you have any guildmates coming, give them a heads up  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** All good  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** I have something as well day after tomorrow  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** And I don’t have anyone or guildmates coming

It would have been a bit awkward, considering her ex-husband was in her guild. It just felt tacky to advertise it there and she didn't want her friends to feel like they had to pick sides. She hadn’t even asked Chun_Lee, her only real in-game friend, It was just a game marriage after all. _Besides, I’m not paying for the wedding favours. I can’t believe he got lucky red packets._

> **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** I thought so  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** The bodies are still here and we can pick them up.  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** I bet we bury them, based on Zabuza’s last line.  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** But where do we bury them?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Probably over there by the waterfall  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** It's the only landmark anywhere around  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Hmmm

Sakura frowned when, carrying the two bodies, they found an interactive patch of land. _That was too easy._ Together, they quickly dug an hole and used Zabuza's sword and Haku's mask as a marker.

> **[Party] System:** Congratulations, you have completed the secret achievement [I am a Human]  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Nice  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** …  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Sakura?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** SakuraBlossom?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** ????  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Oh sorry, I was taking some notes  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Notes?  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Yeah, I…  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Promise you won't laugh  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Ok  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** I'm interested in game dev  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** I like taking notes about cool missions or mechanics, or things I think are dumb  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** I see  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** What are you making a note about?  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Well I really liked the mission, especially how the two bosses appeared. It’s so diabolical  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Except for the cutscenes. You and Wulf shouldn’t have died  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** It’s an interesting story, if a bit…  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Short  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** And it’s a pity only we see it  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** I wonder if all the other players even get a hint Gato is a threat?  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Also I think burying human remains so close to a rice paddy is a bad idea.  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** And I’m rambling, lol…  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Sorry  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** They’re good thoughts  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Haha, thanks.  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** g2g though, cya at the wedding?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Mm  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Good night  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** gl with whatever you have the day after tomorrow?  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** ty, you too.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! A bit early this week, you can all say thanks to Reglee, my Beta, and Camp NaNoWriMo hosted on the r/fanfiction server for this. I hope you enjoy some hanging out with the guys time - they're fun to write. Anyone still remember the Haku mission? I seem to be taking each scene and stretching them like toffee, so I hope you enjoy it! It does mean I'm writing a lot more action scenes than I expected to. For those of you who are wondering a bit about the MMO mechanics - I'm mostly a Guild Wars 2 player (Because I have responsibilities, and GW2 still allows me to have a life), so I borrow heavily from there. Of course, I'm also making it up as I go. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! As always, reviews, comments, kudos, favourites, bookmarks and whale songs make my day. Stay home and stay healthy!


	6. An Auspicious Day

_Two days earlier…_

“Day after tomorrow is an auspicious day for weddings.”

_Today…_

“Hey Temari-chan, can I borrow your phone?” Sakura asked, turning around in her desk. They just finished the last class for the day, Introduction to Algorithms, and because it was a core CS course, all of her roommates were in it along with most of their year. Most of their classmates were in a hurry to leave, but the four of them took their time.

“Did you not buy a new phone yet?” Temari asked.

“I don’t have the money for a new one, and I don’t really need one anyways,” She said with a smile. “Anyone important can just call me on the dorm phone anyways.”

“You could borrow one of my old ones,” Temari offered, but Sakura shook her head.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just deal with it until I can get another scholarship. But thanks, Tema-chan. I just need to check something.” Sakura saw the look that Temari gave her but was thankful the other girl didn’t insist. Even if their backgrounds were very different, she didn’t want anyone to think that she was taking advantage of their friendship. Besides, now that she had a new laptop, she didn’t really need a phone.

“Well, here then,” Temari handed her phone over, “Don’t go into my text messages though!”

Tenten leaned over from Sakura’s other side to snoop, “You and Shikamaru-senpai sending lewd chats? Late-night texting when you're actually in the dorm for once?” She snickered when Temari shot her a death glare.

“It’s none of your business what I send my boyfriend!” Temari retorted hotly, making even Hinata stifle a snicker.

Sakura shook her head, “I just want to check when the basketball game is. I have something else tonight, and I don’t want to miss it.” Sakura explained, ignoring the horseplay behind her. She opened Temari’s calendar app and grinned a bit when she read the fortune-telling bit at the bottom. _Today is an auspicious day for new beginnings, including business ventures and weddings._

“What else d-do you have, Sakura-chan?” Hinata asked from Temari’s other side.

“Oh, just something in-game,” Sakura said. _If I say I’m getting married in-game, Tenten’s going to tease me to death._ “I might have to leave a bit early, is all. When are we going to the game? It starts at 6.”

“We can go now and watch the warm-up and get good seats,” Temari decided for them all, “It’s the first match of the season, after all.”

“It’s only 4:30 though!” Tenten protested, “What about dinner?”

“We c-can just get something and eat in the stands,” Hinata offered. “I wouldn’t mind going now.”

“And I’m sure Tema-chan is anxious to see her beloved Shikamaru-senpai,” Sakura teased, handing the phone back to Temari.

“You!” Temari blushed a bright red and tickled Sakura in retaliation. Sakura squealed and shoved Tenten into Temari’s line of attack, while Tenten struggled desperately to get away from her hands. Hinata helplessly giggled at their antics, knowing better than to try and stop them.

“Ah, overflowing youth!” Professor Gai shook his head indulgently at the girls’ horseplay as he left the classroom.

**＼(≧▽≦)／ヽ( >∀< )ノ(＞ｍ＜)(¬‿¬ )**

“Deep breath, guys,” Chouji murmured under his breath, as they all looked at the door of the conference room.

“Easy for you to say, your bit is tiny,” Kiba muttered. He looked a bit green and subconsciously pawed at the collar of his dress shirt.

“Neither are you!” Naruto retorted, absently fiddling with something in the pocket of his dress pants.

“Just calm down. It’s simply a funding pitch meeting. Don’t wimp out on me now,” Sasuke said sarcastically, not letting even a trace of nervousness show in his face. _If I wait for them to find their backbones, I’m going to miss the wedding._ Ignoring their unanimous exasperated glares, he nonchalantly pushed the door open and entered the room like it wasn’t one of the scariest moments of their professional lives to date.

The entire small auditorium of men and a few women in business formal stopped talking for a second when their eyes fell on the handsome youth who came in. He ignored them all to exchange a few polite words and a handshake with the MC at the podium, then got out his laptop for the tech guy to start setting up their presentation.

“That asshole always has to steal all the limelight,” Kiba muttered half-resentfully, half-admiringly. Now that the crowd’s attention was focused on Sasuke, no one would notice when they entered.

“Well, c’mon, let’s go then,” Naruto said. “We can’t let him get all the credit.”

As they settled into places on the stage, Sasuke glanced over at their more determined, smiling faces, and smirked a little. He turned around to answer a question from the event’s Master of Ceremonies, a young woman in a business suit, who had tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

“LEAF Corp. We’re LEAF corp.”

The MC nodded, blushing a little at the small smile that had turned his taciturn face from a little frightening to frighteningly charming. With a cough and a last look at the tech guy, who gave her a thumbs up, she picked up the microphone and began to introduce them.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us today at this very special funding pitch, where we’re pleased to present you with the chance to invest in the viral hit game of this year, Ramen Delivery Dash. With me today are the gentlemen of LEAF Corp, who’ll walk you through their product and the phenomenal opportunity before you. Uzumaki-san, please.”

“Thank you,” Naruto took the microphone and gave the MC a broad small smile that had her turning her head away bashfully once again. _I thought it was Konoha Tech that was known for their hot guys!_

Naruto continued in a smooth, practiced tone with none of the squeaky nervousness that he’d had in the hallway before, “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I’m here with my colleagues, Uchiha Sasuke, Akimichi Chouji, and Inuzuka Kiba to demonstrate exactly how we can bring our expertise to your companies in a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

Sasuke hid a smile as he watched his roommates straighten their backs and put on their charming presentation smiles. _I knew they had spines somewhere. Looks like they found them_.

**(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ (ｏ・_・)ノ”(ノ_ <、)(--_--)**

“Woah, that’s a lot of people,” Tenten observed as the four girls entered the noisy gym. The chatter crashed over them like a rising tide, and the stands were at least three-quarters full at this point - an hour and a half before the game even started. Sakura was concerned as well, but it wasn’t because of the crowd. She was worried because she noticed that the clock on the wall was running at least 15 minutes slow. _I better remember to watch, or I’m going to miss the wedding._

“Oh no,” Temari worried her bottom lip, scanning the players warming up on the court anxiously. “Shika had better have saved us some seats, or I’m going to wring his neck. Why is that boy so lazy?”

“I-Isn’t that Shikamaru-senpai, Temari-chan?” Hinata pointed to one spiky pineapple-shaped head lounging on the CS faculty’s players bench. Temari craned her neck to look and then scowled daggers at the back of his neck when she recognized her boyfriend. Shikamaru must have a very refined danger sensor - as soon as Temari opened her mouth to yell at him, Shikamaru happened to turn around and spotted them crowded at the entrance. He got up and lazily jogged over to them.

“Shikamaru, I thought I told you to save us seats!?” Temari demanded.

“Temari,” He said in a placating tone towards his girlfriend, giving Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata a brief nod.

“W-why are there so many people here, anyway?” Hinata asked hastily, trying to head off Temari’s ire. She anxiously peered at the crowds, uncomfortable as she was with so many people.

Shikamaru pointed his chin at a particular blonde in the bleachers, “It’s because Yamanaka-san is here.”

All four girls turned to try and get a better look at the blond-haired, blue-eyed campus beauty who was indeed sitting in the bleachers, chatting with a girl with sharp eyes and long black hair beside her. Sakura couldn’t help taking another look - as much as the entire idea of the popularity contest had annoyed her, she had, after all, taken second place to this girl. This was her first chance to take a look at her face-to-face.

“What’s she doing here?” Tenten frowned, “How did she not know Uchiha-senpai’s not going to be here?”

Temari, Sakura, and Hinata all looked at her. _You have an inside source, remember?_ Yamanaka-san was a fairly prominent Uchiha-senpai fangirl. She was even more conspicuous about it than Sakura was - Sakura at least had the cover of being from the computer science faculty to attend a lot of the same events as Uchiha-senpai. Yamanaka-san just turned up without any embarrassment.

“No idea,” Shikamaru responded, “But since she’s here, everyone thinks Sasuke’s going to turn up. When word got out, the bleachers filled in ten minutes.”

“Sasuke-senpai’s going to be here?” Sakura asked hopefully.

“No,” Shikamaru smiled sympathetically at her. Sakura wilted a bit, disappointed, but she had been expecting that, so she wasn’t truly upset. She felt bad for Temari, though, who looked more and more anxious by the minute as more people streamed in behind them.

“Look, you guys should just go and grab an early dinner,” Shikamaru told them, obviously trying to settle his anxious girlfriend, “Come back closer to the game, at 5:45, and the seats will be a lot more empty since more people will have realized Sasuke’s not coming.”

“Are you sure?” Temari asked him.

“I promise. I’ll save you seats this time if it looks like it’s going to get bad,” He took her hand and rubbed it gently, making her blush and snatch her hand back. Shikamaru only smiled at her.

 _They’re so cute._ Sakura was just about to turn to leave with Hinata and Tenten and give Temari and Shikamaru a bit of privacy when she heard her name being shouted by a voice she didn't know.

“Haruno-senpai,” A young man wearing the department jersey jogged up to her, sweaty and panting slightly from the workout. _He must be one of the first-year students._

“Yes?” She smiled politely at him.

“I really admire you, Haruno-senpai. If we win this game… will you go out with me?” The freshman blurted out, blushing slightly.

Sakura’s smile froze. _Shannaro! Not this again._ “Are you planning on losing?” She asked instead, raising a teasing eyebrow in a challenge. She didn’t dare look at Tenten or Hinata in case either of them were making the same “not again” face.

The freshman saw her challenge and instantly puffed out his chest, “Of course not!”

“Then good luck!” She encouraged him. This time, as she decisively turned to leave and threaded an arm through each of Hinata and Tenten’s, “Not one word from either of you.”she whispered through gritted teeth,

“You’re getting better at this rejection business,” Tenten said mischievously despite her warning. She dodged the angry poke Sakura aimed at her ribs. Hinata only giggled lightly at both of them.

“Wait up, guys!” Temari called, catching up with them after a hurried goodbye to Shikamaru, “He had some nerve pressuring you like that where other people could hear, Sakura-chan. If you’d said no and they lost, some idiots would be sure to blame it on you, especially if they don’t make the finals of the interdepartmental tournament.”

“How?! It’s not like that little freshman is a superstar or anything,” Tenten said indignantly.

“They say you hexed the whole team or something,” Temari shrugged when Tenten gave her a “Oh Really?” look, “Don’t look at me, some people take basketball seriously!”

Sakura shrugged, “Well, whatever. At least we got out of that without too much hassle.”

“L-let’s go get some food,” Hinata smiled, taking a few extra steps to pull Sakura and Tenten forwards. With a hint of mischief, she added, “B-before Sakura-chan gets confessed to again.”

Hinata squealed and dropped Sakura’s arm, as Sakura chased her out of the gym to tickle her in retaliation.

**ヽ(~_~(・_・ )ゝ(⌒_⌒;)(＞﹏＜)**

“If there are no other questions, ladies and gentlemen, we at LEAF corp look forward to working with you to bring your digital assets to a viral audience. Thank you very much for your time this afternoon.” Sasuke wrapped up their presentation with a charming business smile. _The applause feels good._ He could already feel the restless excitement from his teammates - their reception had been better than they’d hoped for. Both BLOOM Inc. and ROOT Corp’s representatives were already making eye contact to flag them down.

BLOOM Inc. reached them on the stage first. A tall man with two striking scars on his face stretched out a hand and introduced himself casually, “I’m surprised to see that four young men from the same university as my lazy son are behind the biggest viral game of this year. You have bright futures ahead of you. I’m BLOOM Corp’s general manager of the games department, Nara Shikaku.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, GM Nara,” Sasuke took his hand with a small smile. GM Nara also shook hands with Naruto, Chouji, and Kiba, and his assistant handed out his business card to each of the four founders with both hands, “We’re familiar with Shikamaru. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get him to join us in this endeavor, otherwise, he’d be here today.”

Shikaku snorted, “Getting that lazy son of mine to do anything that requires any kind of energy and effort is a fool’s errand. I hear you are planning to expand the company after you graduate?” His eyes scanned over the four of them, pausing on Chouji’s face for the shortest moment.

“Yes, we’ve just leased the offices and are starting to hire staff,” Chouji responded cheerfully.

“Energy is for the young,” GM Nara grinned, “We fly back to Iwagakure tomorrow afternoon, so make some time to come by my hotel room for a chat before that. My secretary will have the details of my schedule.”

“We will,” Sasuke agreed, “Thank you, GM Nara.”

“Well, I won’t keep you. Plenty of these other small fry want to talk to you as well.” He said with a smile and took his leave.

As soon as GM Nara left, ROOT Corp’s representatives approached them quickly. They were led by a gaunt man with a long face who reached out his hand to introduce himself first.

“Very interesting game and philosophy, gentlemen,” he said by way of introduction. “My name is Shigaraki Tanuki, and I’m the GM of the gaming and digital media department at ROOT.”

“Nice to meet you,” Naruto took the GM’s hand first this time. GM Shigaraki then introduced a slim, young man, who barely looked older than Naruto and Sasuke, standing beside him. “This is our games development team leader, Shimura Sai. I’m sure you’ve heard of him before.”

“Of course,” Naruto smiled. _His bullshitting skills are getting better,_ Sasuke thought. He knew that Naruto, who paid very little attention to the business side of game development, had absolutely no idea who that androgynous young man was.The adopted son of ROOT Corp’s CEO Shimura Danzo, Shimura Sai had made waves when he’d suddenly scouted and acquired several budding companies, brought them under ROOT’s banner, and developed their fledgling mobile game department into a real powerhouse.

Sasuke wanted to narrow his eyes, but he didn’t let his suspicion show on his face. _If he’s here then… well, if that’s the game they want to play, we can play._

“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you,” Team leader Shimura smiled, “GM Shigaraki and I would like to invite you to our offices to discuss your prospects, maybe later next week?”

“We’re in no particular rush, since our head offices are in Konohagakure,” ROOT Corp’s GM added a little sarcastically, casting a glance over where BLOOM Corp had just left.

“Of course. We’d be happy to arrange a time to discuss,” Naruto agreed.

With their objective achieved, the ROOT Corp contingent didn’t linger either and took their leave. Sasuke watched them go. Something about the Team Leader didn’t sit right with him.

Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, and Chouji continued to stand on the stage, accepting cards and invitations from several other companies who were there that day, until the auditorium finally cleared out. Even the MC and the technical support had left, leaving them the only ones still there.

“Yes!” Kiba exuberantly punched the air, “Look at all these cards! And we even got a nibble from the two biggest fish in the audience!”

“Good job, Sasuke, Naruto,” Chouji congratulated the two sincerely. Considering he usually handled the outsourcing, and Kiba was deep in the technical programming nuts and bolts, Naruto as the head design developer and Sasuke as their main business lead had done most of the talking at today’s pitch.

“Thanks Chouji, dattebayo,” Naruto grinned, finally letting go of the stiff business formal persona that he’d put on all day. Sasuke smirked at him, “What’d you think?”

“We had so much interest today, we’re probably going to get some good terms,” Chouji said happily, “especially with BLOOM and ROOT interested.”

“We’ll only know once we begin negotiating,” Even Sasuke’s pragmatic words couldn’t bring down their elated mood. _Let them have their fun_. He checked his watch, noting the time. “It’s almost time to get going. I’m going to head to my brother’s place. See you guys at the wedding.”

The three of them waved him off. Kiba leaned over to Chouji and asked, “Hey, do you think he’s in a rush because he’s about to get married?”

Chouji looked at him, “We’re talking about the same asshole, right? Uchiha Sasuke?”

Naruto summed up their thoughts, “Yeah right.”

**(b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ**

True to Shikamaru’s word, the stands had emptied enough that Temari, Sakura, Hinata and Tenten were able to grab prime courtside seats. As the game continued and the CS department’s varsity team easily overtook the chemistry department’s team at the bottom of the third period, the crowd thinned even more until even Yamanaka-san got up and left.

Sakura watched her go. _I guess now that the CS team is doing so well, there’s no hope that Uchiha-senpai would turn up to save them at the eleventh hour or something._ Still, she felt bad for the team, especially since once Yamanaka-san left, the bleachers were nearly empty.

“C’mon, let’s get up and give them a cheer,” Temari looked at them pleadingly. Shikamaru obviously wasn’t bothered, but the rest of the team was looking a little dejected. The chemistry department took advantage of their depression to score a three-pointer and a breakaway.

“Sure,” Sakura agreed. She tugged Hinata and Tenten up as Temari also stood up. Together. they cupped their hands around their mouth, loudly cheering, “Go CS Go! Go CS Go! Go CS Go! Whoo-hoo!”

The various players on the court all looked over at the four pretty girls determinedly cheering, and a couple of them raised their fists in acknowledgment, grinning broadly. Shikamaru looked at his slightly embarrassed girlfriend, giving her a small smile and a wave that made her blush even harder. Buoyed by their cheers at each basket scored, the CS department varsity team rapidly increased the gap once again, until, at the end of the third period, the score was 81 points to 59 points.

“Shannaro!” Sakura swore as she caught sight of Hinata’s watch face. The other girl nearly hit her in the face with it as they cheered.

“S-Sorry S-Sakura-chan!” Hinata apologized, thinking she’d actually hit Sakura, “D-Does it h-hurt?”

“I’m not hurt, but - hang on, lemme see…,” Sakura grabbed Hinata’s wrist and took a good look at her watch. _I forgot that the clock was wrong!_ She swore loudly again, “Shannaro! I gotta go! I’m going to be late!” She grabbed her bag and took off.

“Uh, Sakura-chan?!” Hinata called after her, but she only spoke to empty air. Bewildered, she met Temari’s and Tenten’s eyes, none of them knowing what to make of their roommate’s sudden disappearance.

Sakura didn’t worry about what her roommates were thinking - she only had one thought on her mind as she ran. _I’m going to be late for my own wedding!_

**。。。ミヽ(。＞＜)ノ**

> **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** …  
>  **[Wedding Party] Best Man OldRamenMan:** She’s not late yet  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman RollOutBoy:** Be patient  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** …  
>  **[Wedding Party] Best Man OldRamenMan:** …  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman RollOutBoy:** …  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** … Oi, ***hole, r u getting stood up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Run Sakura, run~! Hehe, I feel like this is kind of a mean place to stop, but I promise the wedding'll be worth the wait. So this is Sai's first appearance! I wonder if Sasuke's got love rival spidey senses or something else, HMMMMMMMM. And yes, for anyone taking notes, I am just as shameless in trowelling on the couple imagery as the drama is - this is my fanfiction and if I want to bless their union to the high heavens, Imma do it!
> 
> Thank you to Reglee for being an awesome Beta for this chapter. Also, thank you for the amazing number of comments & reviews I got last chapter, I appreciate you all so very much. You guys are awesome (and fuel for my writing hehehe - Sorry Reg). As always, reviews, comments, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and bouquets expressing adoration in Victorian love language all make my day. If you want to chat/geek out/speculate, feel free to drop me a line in PMs, my Tumblr (same name), or my Discord handle. Thanks all, and see you soon!


	7. A Spectacular Night

_Previously..._

> **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** …  
>  **[Wedding Party] Best Man OldRamenMan:** …  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman RollOutBoy:** …  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** … Oi, ***hole, r u getting stood up?

_Currently..._

“I think this might be the first time for Sasuke,” Kiba mused.

The three of them had made it back to the dorms, and since Sasuke wasn’t here to be his regular neat freak self, they’d thrown their suits onto the floor and thrown their smelly socks onto his bed. Now they were lounging at the large desk in the center of their dorm, all ready to watch their brother get married in casual sweats.

They were just missing a bride.

“Getting stood up?” Chouji asked, settling down with his carefully chosen snacks. He’d spent fifteen minutes choosing the perfect combination and sequence of chips for the event. Naruto glanced over and snickered - _Good thing the bride is late, or we’d have been down one groomsman_.

“Dude, getting married is a first for this asshole,” Naruto said, trying to be sneaky and reaching over to steal some of Chouji’s chips.

Chouji smacked his hand away, “Get your own chips!” Just as Naruto opened his mouth to piss Chouji off by trying to wheedle a chip out of him, all three of their computers dinged.

> **[Wedding Party] System:** The Bride SakuraBlossom has joined the party.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** Sorry I’m late!  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** You’re fine

“He’s totally lying his ass off. I bet Sasuke’s got that constipated frog look on right now,”, Kiba said, also absently reaching over to steal one of Chouji’s chips.

Chouji snatched the bag away from him, scowling, “Wolves! I’m surrounded by wolves!”

“Beats me,” Naruto shrugged, “Stop horsing around, guys, they’re about to get started.”

Kiba snorted, “Coming from you, that’s rich.”

In a shabby little shop in the Central Hidden City, full of nothing but spools of red thread, a doddering old man sat behind the counter. He had a full head of white hair and two red lines running down his face, and he was entirely ignoring the customers in his store, in favour of a little, brightly-coloured book in his hand.

> **[Wedding Party] System:** Are the Bride and Groom ready to begin the ceremony and join hands to walk the Way of the Ninja together? Type Y to start the ceremony, W to wait, C to cancel  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** Y  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** W  
>  **[Wedding Party] Best Man OldRamenMan:** WHAT?!?!?!?  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** ?  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** Yo, if you’re having second thoughts, I’ll marry 3SIL instead  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** Keep dreaming  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** I’m kidding!  
>  **[Whisper] SmirkM1ster:** Bride Price  
>  **[Self] System:** Sm1rkMeister has offered SakuraBlossom 1 [God-Tier Equipment Set box]. Type Y to accept or N to Reject the offer.

_Bride Price?_ Sakura blinked when the offer came in through chat, then scowled. _I’ve never taken equipment from a guy, and I’m not about to start now._

> **[Self] SakuraBlossom:** N  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Just take it. You’ll need it for the tournament  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Consider it an advance on the tournament winnings

Sakura bit her lip. It was true, her current set was only a legendary set. Not that God-tier would be that much of an upgrade… but… she could pay him back… _And I really want to win._

> **[Self] System:** Sm1rkMeister has offered SakuraBlossom [1 God-Tier Equipment box]. Type Y to accept or N to Reject the offer.  
>  **[Self] SakuraBlossom:** Y  
>  **[Self] System:** Sm1rkMeister has given [1 God-Tier Equipment Set box] to SakuraBlossom  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Wait  
>  **[Self] System:** SakuraBlossom has offered [1 God-tier Max Level Potion] to Sm1rkMeister. Pending his acceptance or refusal.  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** Dowry  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** It’s not much  
>  **[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom:** I’ll make it up to you later.  
>  **[Self] System:** Sm1rkMeister has accepted the offer!  
>  **[Self] System:** SakuraBlossom has given [1 God-tier Max Level Potion] to Sm1rkMeister.-  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** Are the Bride and Groom ready to begin the ceremony and join hands to walk the Way of the Ninja together? Type Y to start the ceremony, W to wait, C to cancel  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** Y  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** Y  
>  **[Announcement] System:** Two hands walking down the Way of the Ninja together have joined hands, two hearts beat in sync. Join us today in celebrating the happy union of Sm1rkMeister and SakuraBlossom today, as they become two halves of one whole.  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** To begin the marriage ceremony, go find Jiraiya, the old man under the moon, who forges red strings of happiness to tie couples together. Ask him for a fortune and a string.

Since they were already standing in the store Under the Moon, they didn’t have far to go. The old man behind the counter seemed to finally realize there were customers in his store. As he put away his book and straightened up, his shabby commoner's clothing transformed into bright red brocade, and he seemed to grow several feet taller and wider until his broad, muscular presence filled the store. The inside of the store itself became more golden and brighter, and the many spools of dusty spools shone in many different shades of red, from a dark maroon to a true apple red, and even an orangy fire red.

He beamed at Sakura and Meister, beckoning them closer to the counter. A cut scene started. Old reached forward and took both their hands, beaming jovially as he spoke.

> **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Well, well, well, another happy couple!  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Let me see your four pillars of destiny  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** And the result is…  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** A match of beautiful good karma

The cutscene ended, and suddenly everyone had been transformed into their wedding finery. Even Akamaru had a little red bowtie. Around Sakura and Meister’s pinkies, a long, sparkling poppy string was tied, binding them together. _I guess this means this marriage is going to be luckier than my previous one. I hope that means the tournament is going to go well._ Sakura smiled a bit in memory, thinking of the “good match” and deep merlot colour that she and Fries had received her first-time around. It hadn’t given them a boost to the rate couple XP was earned, but at least it wasn’t a deductor.

> **[Wedding Party] System:** Congratulations! This match has been blessed to gain couple experience 1.25x faster than normal. Would you like to use a premium item to reroll, or continue with the mission? Type Y to reroll, N to continue with the wedding, S to stop the wedding  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** Man, again with the monetization  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** N  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** It’s just a QOL upgrade, it’s not that bad  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** Y  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** ?!  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Hmm, that’s not quite right. Let me try again.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** you bought those!?  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** And the result is…  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** A heavenly match of good fortune  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** Congratulations! This match has been blessed to gain couple experience 1.5x faster than normal. Would you like to use a premium item to reroll, or continue with the mission? Type Y to reroll, N to continue with the wedding, S to stop the wedding  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** N  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** Y  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** LOL  
>  **[Wedding Party] Best Man OldRamenMan:** lolololol  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** wtf?  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Hmm, that’s not quite right. Let me try again.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** The chances of getting anything better are super low, you should’ve kept it  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** And the result is…  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** A match made in heaven, rare and difficult enough to encounter in a thousand years!  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** A truly auspicious match  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** Congratulations! This match has been blessed to gain couple experience 2.0x faster than normal. Would you like to use a premium item to reroll, or continue with the mission? Type Y to reroll, N to continue with the wedding, S to stop the wedding  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** N  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** Don’t you dare roll again  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** We g2g get married

In his own room, sitting at his big desk, Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance. He wanted a lower or negative multiplier. Then they’d have to spend more time together to max out their couple boost. _I should’ve just kept the first one_.

> **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** N  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** The matchmaking is done, the ceremony may proceed.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Congratulations to you both, may you walk the way of the Ninja together until the end.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Excellent! Then as my last word of advice to the happy couple  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Let me tell you a story….

With the wave of the NPC’s sleeves, Sakura found her avatar and the rest of their wedding party, including Akamaru, standing under the gateway of destiny, in front of the statues of the maiden with the long wrap and the youth with the calf reaching towards each other.

> **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** These two statues are Orihime and Hikoboshi, the weaver and the cowherd of heaven  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Separated by the river of heaven, these two are only are able to meet once a year, when the magpies build a bridge to span the milky way  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Through their strong hearts, they must keep their love alive for the rest of the year.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** They choose, every day, to hold hands across time and space  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** The way of the ninja is not smooth or gentle, and by joining your hands together here, today, you make a commitment to support each other through it.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** For better or worst, through thick and thin  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Are you sure you want to make this commitment?  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** Choose Y to finish the wedding, Choose N to cancel the wedding.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** Y

Sakura, who’d been enjoying the sentimental lovers' story, stared at the screen when her bridegroom suddenly wandered off towards the Magpie bridge, that string tying them together stretched to the end of its range. _Shannaro! What the hell is he doing?_

> **[Wedding Party] Best Man OldRamenMan:** Bro, your bride is over here  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** I’m telling ya, if you have any regrets…  
>  **[Whisper to Beowulf69] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** Go die  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** Forgot to set the banquets  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman RollOutBoy:** Very important, can’t forget those  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** … you’re doing this on purpose  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** … this is because I was late, isn’t it?  
>  **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** … that’s okay, we can still call this off ^_^  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** Y  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** Congratulations to the Happy Couple! You are now officially married. You will now begin accumulating couple experience, and the Couple channel is now open for you to use.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groom Sm1rkMeister:** Too late :)

“...,” Sakura stared at her screen with a disbelieving look on her face.

“...,” Sasuke watched his screen with a tiny smirk on his face.

“...,” Naruto, Kiba, and Chouji just stared at their screens before all three of them burst out laughing.

“That total asshole!” Kiba wheezed.

Chouji chortled, “I feel kind of bad for Sister-in-law.”

“I hope she knows what she’s getting herself into!” Naruto laughed.

They were laughing so hard, they missed the cutscene. The two statues of Orihime and Hikoboshi reaching for each other suddenly moved, leaning forward to finally grasp hands. A spark of light flared between them and they were once again teleported, this time in front of a statue of a beautiful and terrible goddess. The chapel around them was quiet, and the light danced through the stained glass windows in a hypnotic pattern.

> **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** The goddess has blessed your union. Bow to her  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** Sm1rkMeister has bowed to the statue of the Mother Goddess  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** SakuraBlossom has bowed to the statue of the Mother Goddess  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Now bow to each other  
>  **[Self] System:** Sm1rkMeister has offered you a bow to seal your marriage. Type Y to accept the emote  
>  **[Self] SakuraBlossom:** Y  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** Two fates have been tied together by the red string of fate. Sm1rkMeister and SakuraBlossom have bowed to each other as husband and wife  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** In the eyes of the Mother Goddess, you are now two halves of one whole  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Join together in happiness and prosperity!  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** *cough* now, as newlyweds, you must be eager to get back to the bridal chambers.  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Don’t let this old man get in the way. Off with you now!  
>  **[Wedding Party] Jiraiya, Old Man Under the Moon:** Hehehe  
>  **[Wedding Party] System:** [The Bridal Chamber Event] is now available

”Guys…,” Chouji asked worriedly as he shoved a mouthful of chips into his mouth, “What the heck is the bridal chamber event? Isn’t this game PG13?”

“They added it last year, while we were on hiatus,” Naruto explained, “It’s meant to give new couples a bit of a head start compared to older ones, by giving them a huge amount of couple experience if they stay in the bedchamber together within 2 hours of getting married, for half an hour of real-time.”

“Yeah, but what do they do in the b-bedchamber?” Chouji asked.

“It’s very risque,” Naruto wiggled his eyebrows, “So risque, we’re not allowed to watch. We just gotta escort them to that asshole’s home instance.”

“Wh-wh-wh-wha,” Chouji stuttered, turning bright red.

Kiba couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore, “Naruto’s being a shit, Chouji. They can only do two things,” He ticked them off on his fingers, “They can a) stand and talk, or b) sit and talk.”

Chouji gaped at him, “That’s it?” He threw a crumpled empty bag of chips at Naruto, who was laughing so hard he didn’t dodge it.

> **[Wedding Party] Bride SakuraBlossom:** Guys?  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman RollOutBoy:** *cough* sorry 3SIL  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman RollOutBoy:** Congratulations!  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** WHOOOHOOOO  
>  **[Wedding Party] Groomsman Beowulf69:** Now let’s go pop that ***hole’s cherry  
>  **[Wedding Party] Best Man OldRamenMan:** Ooooooooh  
>  **[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister:** Like I said, bad influences.

Sakura blushed. _Gutterbrains._ Once they left the little chapel tucked in a corner of the spoke, she hurriedly got onto her mount, a traditional eight person sedan carried by little fox demons, and set her pathing to auto-follow Meister. On his own wedding steed, Meister started leading them forward, while the rest of the wedding party followed beside Sakura’s sedan. As they wandered through the cherry blossom lanes of this slice of the city, out of the square towards Meister’s home instance, she started reading the world chat as the congratulations poured in.

> **[World] DaemonL0ver:** Congrats!! Congrats!! Congrats!!  
>  **[World] PlasmarBoy:** Whoohooooo!! (^__^)  
>  **[World] Ratinger:** Woahhh nice red packets! 88 silver  
>  **[World] Gamermama:** Congratulations to the happy couple  
>  **[World] WeepingW1llow:** Oh my lordy, is that Sm1rkMeister?  
>  **[World] ChattyCatty:** No way, the Server Best that disappeared?  
>  **[World] JizzyLizzy:** He’s back!?  
>  **[World] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Didn’t SakuraBlossom just get divorced?  
>  **[World] MistSwordSuigetsu:** What’s the Server Best doing with sloppy seconds?

Sakura snorted at that particularly rude comment. _Shannaro! No one accused Ami of getting MY sloppy seconds._

> **[World] ForeverA10ne:** Who knows what top players are thinking?  
>  **[World] MistSwordSuigetsu:** If it were me, I’d say the Server Best should get married to our server beauty  
>  **[World] MistSwordSuigetsu:** At least we know UWUAmixx is actually a girl  
>  **[World] UWUFukixx:** At least someone has some sense  
>  **[World] UWUKasumixx:** Neh, Ami, if both Fries and Sm1rkMeister proposed to you, who would you choose?  
>  **[World] UWUAmixx:** Of course I would choose FriesWithThat  
>  **[Whisper to UWUKasumi] UWUAmixx:** He’s rich and famous irl. Sm1rkMeister’s probably some fatso nerd eating doritos  
>  **[World] OldRamenMan:** Oi, oi, only our Third SIL can match with this ***hole  
>  **[World] Beowulf69:** That’s right, that’s right. Anyone who disagrees should challenge 3SIL to a PVP Match  
>  **[World] ForeverA10ne:** …  
>  **[World] RollOutBoy:** she’s Number 4 on the PVP rankings!

Sakura had kind of expected world chat to be a shitshow, but she was actually kind of touched by Old Ramen Man and Wulf standing up for her. She decided that she’d given other people’s nonsense enough attention, and since they were auto-following anyways, she pulled out her homework again. As she worked though, one particular scrap of chat zipping by caught her eye.

> **[World] FerdytheMaid:** I swear I’ve seen UWUAmixx doing a mission with Sm1rkMeister, right before he disappeared  
>  **[World] Mediumen:** Hey, do you think she rejected him, and now he’s hooked up with SakuraBlossom to form a spite couple?  
>  **[World] CarryawaySeed:** Must be must be! LOL

_That could get messy._ As they arrived at the entrance to the home instance, the guys wished them well one last time before they left the wedding party, leaving only her and Meister in it. As they entered the instance, into the beautifully decorated house and the bright red bridal chamber, Sakura decided she might as well ask about it if there was even the smallest chance it was going to bother her. _Better out than in._

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Hey, can I ask you something?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sure  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Do you know UWUAmixx?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** No  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Are you sure?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Are you jealous?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** No!  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I just saw that someone saw you guys doing a mission together  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Does that count as knowing?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ….  
>  **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] Sm1rkMeister:** did we ever play with UWUAmixx?  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Yes!  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Back when she was crowned hottest girl in that IRL Photo contest  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Kiba invited her  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** You kicked her out of the party because she was that bad.  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Apparently I kicked her out of the party because she sucked  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Oh  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Why?  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Is 3SIL jealous?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I gotta go take a call, brb  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** OK! ^__^  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Oi. ***hole  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Hey  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Don’t ignore me!  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Sasuke!

**( ´ ▽ ` ) (¬‿¬ )**

When Sakura looked up from her History of Encryption homework, she realized two relatively important things - they’d gotten the achievement for the Bridal chamber event and the couple XP, and she hadn’t turned off auto-following Meister.

 _Where the heck are we?_ Sakura squinted at her game screen. She didn’t even know the game had flying mounts, never mind hot air balloons. They were standing together in one, so close they were clipping into each other. _So pretty!_ She gasped, looking down at the shimmering cityscape below her. It was the night cycle now, so a canopy of stars spread over their heads, and a glowing moon hung low in the sky. If Sakura’s avatar could reach forward, she thought she’d be able to trail her fingers in the streetlights below and hang the moon on her necklace.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Where are we?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sightseeing  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ?

Sakura blinked. Why the heck were they sightseeing now? _It can’t be…_

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Is it a couple mission? **  
> [Couple] SakuraBlossom:** To take a honeymoon or something?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** …  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** No  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** …Oh  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** So this is a honeymoon?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** …  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Do you need to be somewhere else?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** No ^__^  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** This is nice

She smiled. Given her limited dating experience, it was probably the sweetest thing any boyfriend-adjacent guy had ever done for her. _Man, that’s a low bar._ Even so, she happily put her book on her laptop keyboard so she could watch the scenery with him and do her homework at the same time. After a period of silence, he whispered to her again.

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** SakuraBlossom  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sakura  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** You didn’t have to give me that potion  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Do you not really use potions?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** It’s the only god-tier item I have...  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** No  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I should probably give you back that equipment box...  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I mean …  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** You don’t need a dowry  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Just yourself is enough.

As Sakura put her cool hands on her warm cheeks, in the game, Meister’s avatar did an unusual emote. He reached forward and poked her on the forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahahaha Sasuke's black belly is showing! But yes, our beloved pair are finally married! Alright, pack up folks, the story's over, that's happily ever after right?
> 
> Yeah right. We got 101 more chapters to go, guys, and they're going to be good. And if YOU want an advance preview of the next couple of chapters, have a good grasp on English and characterization, and have some time to Beta 2k-5k words each week and a burning desire to figure out how exactly I'm writing out all of these love triangles, please contact me on Discord at LScore#8970. Please note that I have this fic meticulously planned out, so I am NOT changing this plot now. I just need some help with the polish and the characterization. Otherwise y'all might just need to suffer through some OOC moments and weird grammar for me to keep posting weekly. Thank you Reglee and Elleurs for reading and beta-ing this chapter. As always, extended ANs with world-building notes on Tumblr in my blog, also called LScore, and comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, subs, and gentle, appreciative orca lullabies always make my day. See you next time, guys!


	8. Slight Heavy-handed

“Thank you for the ride, Ebizo-ojisan,” Sakura smiled at the old man with the long, white eyebrows sitting beside her in the BMW’s backseat. It always made Sakura chuckle internally at how incongruous the old man and his luxury car was, but it made his grand-nephew happy, so Ebizo-ojisan endured the looks. Since cars weren’t allowed on the campus without a permit, the driver only pulled up to the gate closest to her dorm room.

It was a couple of days after she’d gotten married in the Way of the Ninja, and she and Meister had a standing appointment to do some couples missions together that night. However, she still had quite a bit of homework to do before that, so when her tutoring job had run late because her pupil was being difficult, she couldn’t help but be a bit anxious. Luckily, one of her pupil’s guardians had offered her a ride, saying he was going that way anyway.

“Thank you, Sakura-chan, for putting up with that grand-nephew of mine. Chiyo and I know he’s a handful, but we’re grateful for your patience with him,” Ebizo patted her hand gently.

“He’s in middle school - it’s a challenging time for everyone,” Sakura waved it off with a smile, “After what happened to his parents… well, I’m just glad I can help him with his school work.”

“You’re a good girl, Sakura-chan. Have a good night,” Ebizo nodded to her as she took her bag and clambered out of the car. She slung her bag over her shoulder and then waved at the old man in the back seat. The gate to the university faced a quiet, mostly residential street, with only a convenience store on the corner. As she passed through the gate to make her way back to her dorm, she’d thought she was alone and unobserved.

She was wrong.

**(O_O;)**

When Sakura got back to her dorm, she’d thought she was alone in the empty main room. Only when she put the kettle on to boil and laid out her stuff on the big table in the middle of the common room did she hear a couple of sniffles coming from the bathroom. Cautiously, she knocked on the door.

“S-Sorry, I-I-I’m almost d-done in here,” Hinata’s voice quavered from the bathroom.

“Hina-chan,” Sakura called softly, “Can I come in?”

“S-Sakura-ch-chan, I-I’m...,” Hinata tried to protest, but then her voice faded with a small hiccup. With a sigh, she gave her permission, “Come in.”

With that, Sakura cracked open the door to the bathroom cautiously, to find Hinata sitting on the toilet, dabbing at her red and blotchy face with a wad of toilet paper. Startled, Sakura rushed forward to hug the other girl. Hinata tried to smile, but as soon as Sakura’s arms closed around her, Hinata crumpled in her arms and wept silently on her shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Sakura soothed, patting Hinata’s back, “Get it all out. Come on, Hina-chan.” She felt the warm tears soak through the thin red shirt she was wearing.

Hinata cried so quietly, it broke Sakura’s heart. She cried like she was used to hiding in a corner, not alerting anyone to her tears. Sakura murmured soft nothings, stroking Hinata’s long hair, as she wondered what would make her usually quiet but optimistic friend cry so hard.

“I-I’m okay,” Hinata’s tears finally stopped, and her voice was muffled against Sakura’s shoulder,

Sakura relaxed her hold but didn’t let the other girl go, as she held Hinata by her forearms. She examined Hinata’s splotchy face as the other girl tried to work up a smile.

“I-I’m okay, Sakura-chan, I really am, now,” Hinata tried to reassure her. Sakura didn’t entirely believe her, but didn’t push her. Instead, she left the bathroom to let Hinata clean up, but she didn’t go far.

“Thank you, Sakura-chan,” Hinata said when she finally came out of the bathroom and saw Sakura waiting for her.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Sakura pushed her.

Hinata sighed despondently, “I-It’s my family. M-My father called me today.”

Sakura swallowed the angry and protective words she wanted to say. Over the year and a half she and Hinata had been roommates, Sakura developed a healthy dislike of Hinata’s father as she got to know the other girl better. She’d never even met the man, even though Hinata’s family lived in Konohagakure. It was always a stone-faced cousin who dropped her off every term. Even Sakura’s parents had taken a couple of days vacation from the bakery to drop her off when she started at Konoha U, and they had to drive down from Uzushiogakure. _Such a prominent political family couldn’t even be bothered with their heiress just because they didn’t like the major she chose - service to the country my ass! Shannaro!_

Hinata saw the look on her face, and she smiled slightly because she knew what Sakura wanted to say but didn’t to avoid upsetting her. “I-I know you don’t understand wh-why I’m not angry at my f-family, b-but-”

“I do,” Sakura interrupted her, not wanting to go down this road again, “I do understand you feel a responsibility to your clan, but Hinata-chan, it’s making you miserable.”

“I-It’s not,” Hinata protested, “I-I’m upset at my own weakness. I-I have to be responsible for m-making my own w-wishes known, a-and it shouldn’t u-upset me so m-much t-to stand up to my f-father.”

“You shouldn’t need to stand up to your own father, Hina-chan,” Sakura said.

“I-I do. O-otherwise I would never grow a-as my own person,” Hinata smiled tiredly, “M-My father is doing what he thinks is best, so I don’t r-resent him for it. And he listens when I c-can say what I-I want. But because wh-what he thinks is b-best isn’t what I want for myself, I-I’ll j-just have to g-get used to b-being a disappointment.” Her stutter, which had almost disappeared over the past year and a half, was back in full force.

“You’re not a disappointment,” Sakura scowled, hugging her again.

“I-I know,” this time, Hinata hugged her back, “I j-just need to get strong enough to b-believe that. A-And studying and getting an internship will help. H-have you looked at the Algo homework yet?”

“I was just about to do it. Wanna do it together?”

“Y-Yeah,” As they spread their books out over the large table in the center of the dorm, Sakura forcefully tried to put her worries to rest. All she could do was be there for her friend.

**(* ^ ω ^) (´ ∀ ` *)**

“My brain is officially mush,” Sakura complained, “Let’s take a break. If I have to justify any more asymptotic bounds for T(n)’s, my eyes are going to cross.”

Hinata laughed at the face she made, “Y-yes please. I-I’ll just follow the example our scholarship student is setting.”

“Hey, I know how to work hard and play hard,” Sakura checked the time on Hinata’s phone, and saw several texts from someone named Neji. “Hinata-chan, you have a text.”

Hinata picked up her phone and looked, but didn’t check the messages. “O-Oh, it’s not urgent.” She smiled, “I-I’m going to make some milk tea. D-Do you want one, Sakura-chan?”

“Sure, thanks Hina-chan,” Sakura smiled. She started browsing around on her computer as she waited for Hinata to boil the water. Finding herself on the University forum page, Sakura browsed through the student's advertised events, homework and class discussions, polls (that stupid campus beauty poll was still up), and gossip. Sakura wasn’t any more virtuous than the next person, and she enjoyed a good piece of gossip, but when she saw one particular post, her jaw dropped in outrage.

“A pretty Konoha U Co-ed exiting a BMW with an old man, and my innocent dreams are destroyed,” Sakura’s voice rose in pitch as she read the title of the post out loud.

Hinata looked over at her from their sink and kitchen unit with a frown, “What’s that, Sakura-chan?”

“What does that title imply to you, Hinata-chan?” Sakura said angrily, bringing her laptop to where Hinata was standing to show her the post.

Hinata shrugged, “I don’t know?”

Sakura sighed at her naivety, “They’re calling me a prostitute! A sex worker! Someone doing compensated dating.”

“Wh-what? How are you involved?” Hinata asked, surprised.

“Because that’s me coming out of a BMW! Shannaro!” She pointed to a picture in the forum post. The face was blurred out, but Hinata could still make out that the girl’s hair colour was pink. While Sakura wasn’t the only girl on campus with pink hair, there weren’t that many. “Ebizo-ojisan dropped me off today after I was done tutoring. How that became I’m a sex worker…” Sakura scowled fiercely, but tears welled in the corner of her eyes.

“L-Let me see,” Hinata took the computer from Sakura’s hand and scrolled through the comments, which got more and more scandalous and sanctimonious as they accumulated. Luckily, no one had tried to guess the identity of the girl in the picture yet, but…

“How dare these people irresponsibly judge someone like that?” Sakura continued to rant, “There are plenty of reasons that anyone would be getting out of a BMW, but no, because of a stupid title like that, people immediately assume the worst! I can’t believe them!”

Hinata put her hand on her back as she continued to read, and Sakura vented her feelings fiercely until Sakura felt Hinata’s hand suddenly freeze on her back. This made her pause and look at Hinata in confusion.

“I-I recognize th-this username,” Hinata said unhappily, pointing to a particular post. She looked white as a sheet.

Sakura frowned, _Why would Hinata-chan look like that?_ “What about it?” She read the post that Hinata pointed to, “I’ve seen that bag before in the sciences building…” Her face turned pale as well. Most of the other girls with pink hair were part of the arts department. _Shannaro!_

“TopSpin96? Who is it?” Sakura asked cautiously. Hinata looked like she was getting more and more upset.

“I-It’s my c-cousin.” Hinata said.

**(⊙_⊙)(╯︵╰,)**

Hinata mustered every ounce of courage she could scrape together as she stared at a door in the fourth year male dorms for the foreign languages department. She got a couple weird stares - even though it was still visiting hours, she doubted he ever had visitors - but she did her best to ignore it. Trembling, she raised her hand to knock softly.

No one answered. Hinata wanted to cry, but she knew she couldn’t before facing him. She knocked again.

The door swung open, and Hinata nearly stepped back in surprise. She looked up at a strong, determined, and sincerely annoyed face that appeared in the doorway and wanted to hide.

“Hinata-sama,” That trace of annoyance disappeared when he saw who it was, and his calm diplomat’s mask returned.

“N-Neji-niisama,” Hinata greeted him, wanting to bite back the stutter.

“I see you still have that unfortunate speech impediment,” Neji said.

“Th-That’s not wh-why I’m here today,” Hinata felt the familiar pang of shame that came with her family’s disapproval, but she pushed on, determined not to let her good friend down. “I-I have something to discuss with you. C-Can I come in?”

“Of course,” He stepped back, letting her into the spartan room. His other roommates weren’t there at the moment, so it was just her and her cousin. She was glad for small mercies.

“I’m assuming you won’t be staying for long, so I won’t offer you a cup of tea. What is it?” Neji got straight to the point.

She twisted her hands together nervously. “Wh-why did you implicate m-my roommate on that forum post?”

Hinata didn’t look up, so she missed the flicker of surprise and disgust that crossed Neji’s face when she asked this. After a pause, he asked, “Is it her? Getting out of the BMW?”

“Y-Yes, but-” Hinata tried to explain, but she was cut off when Neji’s face became stony.

“You have poor taste in friends, Hinata-sama,” He said, “We will have to look into it.”

“I-It’s not what it looks like!” Hinata protested, alarmed. She knew what could happen when her family looked into things. She’d lost more than one friend over the years from that. “Sakura-chan’s not that kind of girl! P-Please don’t.”

“You must consider more than just yourself, Hinata sama. The honour of the clan must not be stained by your association with such a person. You may have left your family behind, but your family still looks out for you. We must investigate,” Neji said heavily, “If it’s true, you cannot live with such an unworthy person.”

“Y-You’re jumping to conclusions!” Hinata protested.

“Your judgment is clouded,” Neji looked disapprovingly at her. “Since nothing like this showed up on her initial background check, we will need to use the… slightly heavy-handed tactics.”

“S-Slightly heavy-handed?” Hinata said incredulously.

Neji didn’t respond with words. Instead, the ruthless look in his eyes spoke volumes, and cold sweat dripped down Hinata’s back. _The clan wouldn’t actually let Neji deploy those tactics for such a minor matter like this, would this? Even still, Neji-niisama acting on his own could do enough damage..._

“N-Neji-niisama, could you please just trust me? You d-don’t need to investigate her, and please take down y-your comment,” Hinata asked, without much hope.

He looked away from her, as if she was too disappointing at that moment. Hinata’s heart throbbed in pain. She was too used to seeing that look, from her entire family, but now even her once-cherished older cousin was looking at her that way. Her hand fisted on her chest.

This was too much. It was one thing if they kept trying to control her, trying to turn her into the perfect diplomat’s wife when she wanted to have her own career. She liked coding, and she was good at it. She didn’t care if it wasn’t ladylike. But to try to control her friends with such little regard for their futures...

“Wh-why can’t anyone j-just trust my judgement?” Hinata said, finally showing her frustration with her family's attitude.

“Your judgment is clouded by your friendship,” Neji repeated stonily.

“C-clouded or not, I have lived with Sakura-chan for three terms now, so I know her situation,” Hinata said quietly, finding her confidence in her new, bitterly cold disappointment, “She may be from a working-class background, but she’s never taken advantage of our friendship, mine or Temari-chan’s.”

“She could be putting on a good front-” Neji tried to dismiss her words.

Hinata continued as if he hadn’t spoken at all, “H-Her cellphone and her laptop were stolen from her at the beginning of the term, and she used all of her scholarship money to buy a new laptop this term because that’s all she could afford. B-Both Temari and I have offered to let her borrow our old phones, but she’s refused because she doesn’t want us to think she’s taking advantage of our friendship. When we go out, she n-never borrows money and rarely lets us treat her. She doesn’t ask her parents for any money because she knows they’re already giving her everything they can afford.”

“All the more reason she would do something like that,” Neji sniffed.

This blatant classicism and prejudice made Hinata really get angry at him, “No, it means she’s a good girl, and if she does end up leaving the school because of your investigation, you will have ruined a brilliant future, and y-you’ll have only succeeded in d-destroying one of the few good friendships that I have managed to make. T-Take the comment down and don’t investigate her. I’m begging you, Neji-niisama.”

“I am looking out for you, Hinata-sama,” Neji said stubbornly. Hinata’s shoulders slumped. She knew what that meant. He wouldn’t change his mind. _None of them ever listen to me. What was I expecting, coming here?_ She’d have to figure out some other way to help her friend.

“I-If that’s what you believe, th-then I have n-nothing else to say to you.” Hinata was holding back her tears at this point. She wouldn’t let him see her weakness.

“Hinata-sama-”

“G-Good bye, Neji-niisama,” She opened the door and nearly ran from his dorm before she really did break down crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun DUNNNN. Oh Neji, you're one of my favourite characters, but you must suffer for the sake of the second ML syndrome. So yes, we're avoiding the traditional drama love triangle and introducing protective older brother drama. This is where I expect to lose some readers who are also drama watchers, LOL. I don't just like love triangles, what can I say (and what is with Asian dramas and the traditional love triangle anyways?). I ended up rewriting the last half of the chapter at the nth hour so my Beta didn't have enough to do his full magic, but I still owe a huge thank you to Reglee and Marie for reading through this. Plus - Angst. Angst is hard, guys. I'm trying to keep a weekly schedule, though, otherwise with 100 chapters left to go, we're already going to be here for a few years - I don't want it to take any longer. 
> 
> As always, reviews, comments, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and get well soon balloon animals always make my day. I'm not sure if it's the isolation, bad sleep, or extra weight I've put on that's been getting on me, but I'm hoping it passes soon. Thanks for stopping by, and see you soon - until then, stay safe and healthy.


	9. Revenge on a Foul Mouth

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Hi  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sakura?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** ….

Sakura blinked at her game screen, startled when she realized she’d been zoning out for the past few minutes. She’d been so out of it, she’d missed Meister’s ping, even though she’d been waiting for him.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Sorry  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Hey, what’s up?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I was just asking which mission you wanted to do next.  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** idrc - Maybe not something with fighting today though  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Not the right brain space  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** OK  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Is everything ok?

Her fingers paused on the keyboard. _No, everything’s not OK. Hinata hasn’t come back yet from wherever she went to confront her cousin, someone’s spreading that I’m a prostitute on the school forums, and if the family I’m working for fires me because of the forum post, I’m screwed for living expenses._

_But it’s not like I can tell a random stranger on the internet about stuff like that._

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Just stressed with life  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Don’t worry about it ^_^  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I just want to be lowkey today  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sure  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** This one then  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** [Return the Hagoromo to its rightful owner]  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** pinged the start

Sakura couldn’t help cheer up a little as they made their way towards the location, chatting all the way. After the honeymoon incident, Sakura’s bad habit of rambling while nervous had come out. Not only did Meister not make fun of her for it, but he was also a great listener. He had a dry sense of humour and a talent for incisive one-liners that would make people want to punch him. She could appreciate that in a conversational partner, although she was glad no one else could read their private Couple channel.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** So someone claimed quantum supremacy yesterday  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Very exciting  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I’ll start preparing for the apocalypse

Sakura snorted. Statements like that made her wonder exactly what he studied. Only a true computer science nerd would understand that quantum supremacy would mean the end of encryption as they knew it, but he didn’t have any of the true nerdy enthusiasm about the idea. _Shannaro!_

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I’ve got the chocolate stash already  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** What would you hoard in an apocalypse?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Rice  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I like onigiri  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** We’re here

They arrived at a tiny hidden spring at the edge of the Land of Stars, but when Sakura looked around, she didn’t see any NPC to start the quest. The location was peaceful and empty, just like many of the hidden locations in the game. Steam rose from the rocky pool in billows as small leaves floated on the surface of the hot spring, like tiny emeralds jostled by the gentle burbles of the pond.

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** There  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Can you pull?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** might have to afk for a bit

Sakura blinked, squinting at her screen until she could make out a gorgeous robe made of translucent rainbow feathers draped on one of the larger rocks surrounding the spring. Going forward, her avatar picked up the garment.

> **[Couple] System:** You have found a [Hagoromo belonging to a celestial maiden]! Find the maiden to return the robe to her so she can return to heaven.

Sakura waited for more information, but after that bit of system information, nothing else appeared. She scowled.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** … That’s it?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Looks like.  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Shannaro!  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** How the heck are we supposed to figure this out?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Bad game design >:(  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Let’s start with walking around a bit  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Maybe she’s hiding in one of the caves

They explored every nook and cranny of the tiny hidden location, then left the small enclosure to search outside. Not five steps after they left the hidden location, though, the Hagoromo disappeared from her hands and reappeared by the spring again. It happened again and again until Sakura was ready to tear her hair out in frustration.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** This is ridiculous.  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** There’s got to be a better way  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Look it up?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** No way!  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** There’s got to be some clue...  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Robe?

Sakura smacked her forehead. Of course! Since they didn’t have any other information, the hagoromo was probably their best clue. She clicked on the item to examine the item text flair.

 **[Self] System:** This Hagoromo is a kimono woven of shimmering feathers that allows celestial maidens to return to heaven. This priceless garment is carelessly draped over a wet rock, which means the owner must be bathing nearby.

_Great, so find a naked girl. No problem! She must stick out like a sore thumb. Still, I have no idea where to start looking for her. Wait a minute. There’s no naked girl in the hot spring, so… That’s strange. What are water stains doing on this side of the rock? The spring is on the other side… Maybe with the robe…._

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I think I have it…  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Need my notebook  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** OK  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** brb then

She blinked in surprise when his avatar disappeared from the screen, then shrugged. It must be important if Meister actually had to take his avatar somewhere else. Considering the robe hadn’t disappeared when he left though, she could probably just yell at him if she needed him to hand in the mission. Muttering to herself, she soon forgot about him to finish the mission

**(￣ω￣ ?)**

> **[Couple] System:** Congratulations! You have found the celestial maiden and returned her robe. Thanks to you, she can now return to her home in heaven.

Sakura punched the air in delight at her success as the (thankfully) not-naked girl changed into the Hagoromo by the power of videogame graphics and flew away on her screen. Just as she was about to message Meister to check if he’d also gotten credit, a message from him popped up on her screen.

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** gj  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ty  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Did you get credit?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Yep  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Come to the [Celestial Walkway]  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** something fun

_What’s fun in that mausoleum?_ With a couple of clicks, she teleported to a shining walkway of white marble with huge columns. The Celestial walkway was an abandoned location in the game, once used for PVP events, but once tournaments and clan wars had been implemented, it wasn’t frequented as often. This was one of the few places in-game that a player could be attacked by other players not in their party and lose equipment, so the vast majority of players avoided it.

She saw Meister’s avatar standing by a pillar, which had a limp figure tied to it with a chain. Frowning, she walked over.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:**???  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** What’s up with him?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sharingan  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** He’s immobilized and bad at dispelling genjutsus, apparently  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Get out your lowest tier weapon and stab him to your hearts’ content

Just when she was about to ask why she should stab him to her heart’s content, the player tied to the column answered that himself.

> **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Oi  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ***hole  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** what the **** are you doing?  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** I just called your wife sloppy seconds  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Why torment me like this?  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Just kill me then

Sakura realized where she recognized the username from. _The guy in world chat during their wedding!_

> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I remember you  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** From the wedding!  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Yeah it’s me  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Go on, kill me!  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Take your revenge  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Or are you just going to be a weak woman?  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Don’t worry

Sakura narrowed her eyes at chat. _Weak woman, am I? Fine, if that’s what he thinks, that’s what he’s going to get._ She flipped through her inventory then grinned when she found what she was looking for.

> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Excellent  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I still have my genin kunai  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Genin Kunai?  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** We’re going to be here forever!  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****

She set her avatar to autoattack Suigetsu with the puny genin kunai, doing one only hitpoint’s worth of damage every slash.

> **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Oi  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** I have like 20k hit points  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Do you plan to be hacking me until next year?  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Nah  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** It won’t take that long  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** and I have auto-attack ^_^  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ...  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Look, SakuraBlossom  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** I’m sorry, I was rude  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** I shouldn’t have called you sloppy seconds  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Can you please not waste both our times and kill me already?  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Oh I won’t kill you  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I’ll just heal you when you’re low ^_^  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Don’t **** with me!  
>  **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Learn to dispel Genjutsus then  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****

With a small smirk, she switched to their couple chat.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I get that he’s bad at genjutsu  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** But why is he so eager to die?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Shouldn’t he just log off or something?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** chain mission

“Ohhhh,” Sakura started snickering out loud. _No wonder!_ A chain mission was a series of missions where a player could only get to the next mission after completing the previous. If a player logged off during the mission, they lost all their progress and had to start from the beginning. Considering some of these missions could take hundreds of steps for exponentially better rewards, it was no wonder Suigetsu was just lying there like a stuffed pig for her to hack at.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** …  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** you’re too evil  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Thank you  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I have to take a call  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** OK  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I’m going to get some hw done then  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I’ll keep an eye on our avatars

“Sakura-chan,’ Tenten called out to her as she returned from her late classes in a whirl of bag and books.

“Hey,” Sakura smiled at her as she pulled out her own reading.

“Whatcha doing? Gaming again?” Tenten teased her

“Casually playing while reading ahead for cryptography. Class go okay?”

“No,” Tenten groaned, “I can’t do this late-night class nonsense anymore. I’m going to drop this film appreciation babble and find another elective. It’s not too late yet.”

“What are you thinking instead?” Sakura asked.

“I dunno,” Tenten frowned as she pulled out her laptop, sitting down on the other side of the large table, “lemme check the course offerings.”

Sakura left her to it while she quickly glanced at her screen, only to frown when she saw the [Here] chat.

**(o_O)**

> **[Party] UWUFukixx:** Hey, is that Sm1rkMeister?  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** He’s with that woman  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** What are they doing here?  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** No idea  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** Oh wait, is that Mist Sword?  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** You know him?  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** I did a mission with him once  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Let’s get him out of there.  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** But we can’t beat either Sm1rkMeister or SakuraBlossom  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** We can shame them into letting him go  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Then MistSword will owe us a favour, hehe  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** Hey  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** Sm1rkMeister  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** You’re the Server Best  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** What are you bullying lower level players for?  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** That’s not fair!  
>  **[Here] UWUFukixx:** Exactly!  
>  **[Here] UWUFukixx:** And it’s 2 v 1  
>  **[Here] UWUFukixx:** Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** …  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** Hey  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** Hey  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** Don’t ignore us!  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** We’re resolving a personal issue  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You guys should keep walking  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** What kind of personal issue gives you the right to torture people like this?  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** It’s just a game  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** What are you getting angry for?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** back  
>  **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Annoying  
>  **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Go away if you don’t want to die  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** lol!  
>  **[Here] UWUFukixx:** Hey! That’s not fair  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** Rude!  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** Just because you’re the Server Best doesn’t mean you get to bully girls!  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** What does your gender have anything to do with it  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Besides  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** It’s just a game  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** What are you getting angry for?  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** You’re too mean!  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Fine  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** We’ll do it the ninja way  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** 2 v 1  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You guys win, you can rescue him and we’ll leave him alone  
>  **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** You’ll fight me  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Go take a break  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I’ll deal with them  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ty ^_^  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** Can we beat him? 2 v 1?  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** He is outnumbered  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** Isn’t he Server Best?  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** That’s an old title  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Besides, he wouldn’t get serious against a couple of girls, right?  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** wtf how are you not ****ing done yet?  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** And what’s this about 2 v 1?  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** C’mon, I took a shower  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** This is taking for ****ing ever  
>  **[Here] UWUFukixx:** We’re going to rescue you MistSword  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Oh it’s you  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** **** off  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** We got some grudges to settle  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** What are you prancing in to pretend to be a good person for?  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** You can’t take either of them  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** You’re both just a pair of little girls anyways  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** Why you-  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Hmph!  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Let’s go Fuki  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Ungrateful wretch!  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** I’m going to do my laundry now  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** Hurry up and kill me SakuraBlossom  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You’re really rude, aren’t you?  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I guess I’ll just be a little girl and let you go then  
>  **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** stop wasting internet and electricity on you  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I need some herbs  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Want to come?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sure

_One laundry cycle later…_

> **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** …  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** OI  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** OI  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** YOU ****ERS  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** UNDO THIS GENJUTSU  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** ****  
>  **[Self] System:** Sm1rkMeister has refused your invite to whisper!

**(`皿´＃)**

Sakura felt a little bad for Meister since he was just meditating to improve his chakra capacity while her character gathered herbs. Still, it was nice to have some company, even very silent company, while she did the boring and monotonous task in her secret base.

She loved this little hidden location. It was a pain to find, but beautiful when found, a little alcove tucked into the side of a mountain with peach trees, various herb patches that scaled with the player’s ability, and a glorious eternal sunrise. It’d been her secret place, ever since she’d found it. She’d never seen anyone here, and she’d never brought anyone here, but somehow, it felt right to have Meister here.

As she finished gathering herbs, she moved her avatar to stand beside the rock on which his avatar was meditating. She just meant to admire the painterly hues of the sunset, but he sent her a chat message instead.

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** ?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I just finished  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Thanks for waiting  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** yw  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** How did you know Mist Sword was doing a chain mission?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Logged on this afternoon and saw that he was asking about scrolls about the jinchuriki on World, then I saw him near the Old Man in the Moon’s workshop.  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** It’s the 48th & 49th collection requests in one of the Legendary Mist Sword retrieval chain missions

Sakura remembered that chain. The Rolling Jade Seas clan had organized a tag team to help one of their clanmates get through one of those missions. It’d started at 8 am, but because she’d had a full day of classes and work, she’d only been able to join for the last 20 steps out of the 108 total steps near 10 pm.

Still, for Meister to recognize those particular steps, and then trap Suigetsu when he crossed into a deserted PVP zone… _Just how good is his memory? And was it a coincidence, or had Meister been watching out for an opportunity for her?_

Thinking of the collective effort for her clanmate, it made her wonder something else.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** What step was Mist Sword on?  
>  **[Couple]** Sm1rkMeister: 108

Sakura burst out laughing, making Tenten, who’d just finished choosing and enrolling in her replacement elective, look up at her. Seeing Sakura look at her screen, Tenten only rolled her eyes at Sakura before she closed her laptop and grabbed her bathrobe.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** lolololol  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I feel kind of bad for him now  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I don’t  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** pft  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** You’re so cruel  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Does it bother you?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** It probably should.  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** But I’m just not the type to turn the other cheek  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** And I’ve been having a bad day because of some forum nonsense that I can’t do anything about  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** people jump to the stupidest conclusions  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I can’t even complain about it to my roommate, because her cousin got involved and implicated me  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** So this kind of petty revenge cheered me right up  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Thank you  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** You’re welcome  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I should go  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Same ^_^  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Good night! Sleep tight  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** u2

Sasuke didn’t go to sleep, though, as he shut down the Way of the Ninja. Instead, in the quiet of his bedroom in faculty housing, he went to the school forum and looked for the post that had Sakura so upset. When he found it, he snorted. _What a load of nonsense._ As a matter of course, he found the IP address of the person behind the post and started to hack the school forums to delete it properly, when he paused.

Remembering what Sakura said about her roommate's cousin, Sasuke casually hacked the forums to display all the school emails with full names of the posters. _That old hag next door better not give me any nonsense about student privacy. Not that she’ll ever find out_.

He stopped at one post, from a Hyuuga Neji and frowned. Speaking of the old lady next door, Tsunade had been complaining about the Hyuugas for the past eighteen months. He’d filtered most of it out, but she had such a loud voice, he couldn’t help if some of it got through when she had dinner with him and his brother. _What was it again? Something about them not respecting her and the office of the Dean, and trying to interfere with one student…_ _Perhaps…_ Sasuke hacked this Hyuuga Neji’s inbox and computer just in case.

What he found made his eyes turn even colder. _Better to nip this in the bud._

Rolling his sleeves up, he got to work.

**ヽ(￣～￣ )ノ**

When Hinata returned to the dorm, she hesitated with her hand on the knob of the dorm room, afraid to go in and face Sakura. After she’d failed to persuade her cousin, she’d sat in a cafe for two hours trying to muster her courage to call her father, only for her phone to run out of batteries.

She’d nearly burst into tears right then and there, but the clerk had come over to remind her that the cafe was closing, so Hinata had had no choice but to head back. Still… she was having a hard time opening the door to their dorm.

So she was a bit surprised when it swung open in front of her instead.

“Hinata-chan!” Sakura looked at her in surprise, wallet, and keys in one hand as she opened the door with the other. She looked like she was dressed to go out, “I was just about to go out to look for you when I couldn’t call your cell. What are you doing outside the door?”

“I-I…” Hinata couldn’t say the words.

“Come in first, and have a cup of honey ginger tea. Don’t stand out there. Your hands are freezing! You should probably take a hot shower, but Tenten’s in there, and you know how she can get. Temari’s probably staying over at Shikamaru-senpai’s tonight.” Sakura tugged her back into the room, and Hinata followed, her tongue still tied, as Sakura sat her down at their large table then set the kettle to boil.

“By the way…,” Sakura said, not looking at Hinata as she got the tea stuff, “I don’t know what happened, but the post is gone, thank god.”

“H-Huh?” That snapped Hinata out of her trance, “Th-the post is gone?”

“Yeah?” Sakura frowned.

“O-Oh…,” She trailed off, lost.

Sakura turned around and smiled at her, drinks in hand, “Don’t worry about it anymore. No real harm done - I didn’t like your family much to begin with, anyways.”

Hinata laughed weakly at Sakura’s impudent look. She was overwhelmed at the way the situation had shifted so quickly, but she didn’t want to press it either - she was just glad it was over.

At least, she hoped it was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell hath no wrath like a... man defending his woman. Poor Suigetsu? Nah.
> 
> NGL, this was one of my favourite moments in the drama (I think I've said this like four times already - I have many favourite moments, and I get to write each one in excruciating detail for y'all, muahahah). For anyone who's keeping track, this chapter spans the end of Episode 2 and beginning of Episode 3 in the drama. I do so enjoy writing black belly Sasuke. I really gotta do it more - actually (brief self promo insert), I'm writing Sasuke as a black belly in both my ongoing longfics right now, so - hehehe. For the interested, I'm also writing another Modern AU SasuSaku fic, called "The Words I Want to Hear" (C'mon LScore, can't you write anything not Shipper modern AU? Ehn, eventually.... maybe....nah), which is also a fusion fic with a Chinese Light Novel. Check it out if you're interested! I'm writing it mostly because ATSiD is a slowburn with many plot threads (I have an excel spreadsheet to keep track of everything, I'm very proud of it), for all it is a shipper fic, and I just want to write cute fluff and stuff you all full of dogfood, dammit.
> 
> Anyways, thank you for your patience this week - I know I'm a bit late on this chapter, but life, man. Thank you to Reglee for being my amazing Beta, and as always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and boomboxes playing pop from the seventies always make my day. Also, extended ANs on the Tumblr of the same name, as always (in about eight hours). See you next time!


	10. Plotting and Planning

_Last time..._

> **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** What are you prancing in to pretend to be a good person for?  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** You can’t take either of them  
>  **[Here] MistSwordSuigetsu:** You’re both just a pair of little girls anyways  
>  **[Here] UWUKasumixx:** Why you-  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Hmph!  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Let’s go Fuki  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Ungrateful wretch!

_Which obviously means…_

> **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** It’s all that wretch SakuraBlossom’s fault  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** You gotta help us get revenge, Ami  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** Yeah, she’s so rude!  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** Didn’t I tell you not to get involved with her?  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** We’re joining her [Roaring Jade Seas Clan] soon  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** We absolutely can't aggravate the Warmaster!  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** … Sorry  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** But she was bullying someone!  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** We can’t just stand aside and let it go!  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** I’m sure you just misunderstood the situation  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** SakuraBlossom’s not that kind of player  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** You guys…  
>  **[Whisper to UWUKasumixx] UWUAmixx:** Dammit, he’s still defending that *****  
>  **[Whisper to UWUKasumixx] UWUAmixx:** I can’t stand this  
>  **[Whisper to UWUKasumixx] UWUAmixx:** Help me think of a way to embarrass her once and for all  
>  **[Whisper] UWUKasumixx:** What about using the video competition?  
>  **[Whisper] UWUKasumixx:** Have you brought it up with Fries yet?  
>  **[Whisper to UWUKasumixx] UWUAmixx:** No, but that might work!  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** By the way, darling…  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** Can we enter the [Found True Love on the Way of the Ninja] Video Competition?  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** It looks like a lot of fun… :D  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** What’s that?  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** You record a story of finding true love using the in-game recording function  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** Then you post it on the forum and players cast votes for their favourite  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** Winning couple gets the [All The Hues in the Rainbow Suit]  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** And I really like that suit  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** Please darling?  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** I don’t know…  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** Honey  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** It sounds kind of bothersome  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** You know work is about to get busy for me  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** If you think that, then it’s fine Darling!  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** thank you for understanding  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** speaking of work, I have to go.  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** *muah* Bye Darling! I’ll call you later  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** Bye Fries!  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Seeya Fries!  
>  **[Party] System:** FriesWithThat has left the party  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** Don’t worry, I’ll get him to agree sooner or later  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** I’ll just play on his pathetic need to be liked or something  
>  **[Party] UWUKasumixx:** Are you thinking what I’m thinking?  
>  **[Party] UWUFukixx:** Planning brunch? With extra mimosas?  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** Planning brunch!  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** And then that suit and revenge will be mine hehehe

**( ` ‿‿ ´ )**

“Are you _sure_ Sasuke knew you were coming here today?”

If Kiba heard that question one more time, he was going to stab himself in the ear with the screwdriver. His genius plan of hitting on the campus beauty’s friends while he helped Chouji replace the RAM in her laptop had come to a screeching halt when he’d actually _met_ Tsugi Kin, the friend in question. She was hot enough, but....

“Urgh, this sucks,” Kin complained. _There it was again!_ Kiba held in his snort. She just never, ever, shut up about Sasuke. He should be used to it after living with that asshole for three years, but for some reason, after Sasuke got married last week, Kiba just kind of assumed this would all go away. That delusion lasted a whole five days.

He looked sideways at Chouji, who gave him a rather helpless shrug as he ate another mouthful of chips.

“He must have been busy,” Ino shrugged, not looking the least bit peeved or put out. Instead, she kept checking her phone every few minutes.

 _That’s the confidence of the Campus Beauty, for sure_. Kiba almost admired her arrogance. Her roommate on the other hand...

“Pff, you’re the campus beauty. Come on. He can make time,” Kin scowled, tapping a finger on her desk in disapproval. The sound wanted to make him scratch her eyes out.

“Sasuke just got married.” Chouji offered.

“WHAT?!” Both girls snapped their heads around to look at him, glaring at him so intently that he nearly choked on his mouthful of chips.

“In a game,” Kiba finished Chouji’s sentence for him, “He’s been playing a lot with his in-game wife these days. Plus school and work and stuff. We’re getting ready to graduate, y’know.”

“What?! He’s not here because he’s playing a stupid game?” The roommateblew her top shrilly. _God, her voice is awful._ She turned to Ino and said, “You should play that game and grab his attention.”

“No way!” Ino exclaimed reflexively.

“Oh come on, Ino-chan, it’s a perfect plan!” She turned back to Chouji and Kiba, “Kita-kun, what game is he playing?”

_Oi, my name is Kiba, dammit!_

“It’s Way of the Ninja,” Chouji answered. Kiba was focused on snapping in the new RAM, so he didn’t see the look that passed between Chouji and Ino. Neither did the roommate, since she was burbling with idiotic plans.

“... So you should just find him, ask for help and get close to him that way, and then like reveal your identity so you can date in real life!” Ino’s roommate continued to burble enthusiastically, “It’s a fool-proof plan! Then that wretch, Haruno, can’t get in the way.”

“Just because she placed second in the poll and also admires Uchiha-senpai, doesn’t mean we’re in competition or anything,” Ino said helplessly, looking aside at Chouji and Kiba, slightly embarrassed, “A hot, single guy is everyone’s fantasy. You haven’t even met her, Kin-chan.”

“You are so naive and trusting,” Kin snorted, “I know her type. Acts like a good girl, but with that body? Vixen. Tooootal Vixen.”

Ino was about to open her mouth to reply, when an alert beeped on her phone. “Oh, that’s the email I’ve been waiting for. Looks like I passed the resume stage.”

“Of that gaming internship? Yay, congrats Ino-chan! When is it?” The roommate with the attitude bounced up from the bed and squealed.

“Congratulations, Yamanaka-san,” Chouji smiled, looking genuinely happy for her.

“Thank you, Kin-chan, Akimichi-san,” Ino beamed back bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet, “It’ll be Thursday morning.”

“Gaming internship?” Kiba looked up from testing his fixes to ask quizzically, “Aren’t you a business major, Yamanaka-san?”

“It’s a project management position with ROOT Corp. I’m hoping to develop a reputation as a human resources expert for tech companies by the time I graduate,” Ino explained.

“That’s why you and Sasuke-kun would make a perfect couple! You’d be able to support his company so well,” Kin added tactlessly.

Ino flushed bright red and elbowed her roommate, “I’m not making decisions about my future career based on the guy I like!”

“Right, right,” Kin quickly corrected herself. “But you guys are such a good match!”

 _What is with this girl?_ Kiba wondered. _Oh well, not my problem. There goes my master plan though._ Done with his task, Kiba clicked the laptop shut and got up to leave before he said something rude. Seeing this, Chouji got up as well.

“You guys are already going?” Ino asked, concerned, “At least let me treat you to dinner as-”

“No need,” Kiba interrupted her before Chouji could accept. _That guy might take food from anyone, but if I have to listen to her roommate for any longer, I’m going to lose my patience. Sasuke this, and Sasuke that, urgh!_ “We have to discuss strategies for our first launch with our other roommates.”

“Oh, well, invite them along!” Kin offered innocently, a rapacious glint in her eyes, “It’s Sasuke-senpai and Boruto-senpai, right?”

“We’re at a very sensitive point in our negotiations, we can’t have any outsiders there when we discuss,” Kiba continued to refuse resolutely, making serious eye contact with Chouji to ensure he didn’t open his mouth.

“But Ino-chan would’ve treated you to the best sushi in the city!” Kin pouted, still weedling. _Good thing she didn’t notice the pitiful begging look on Chouji’s face. God, he looks like a kicked puppy._

“Some other time,” Kiba said, picked up his bag, and hustled his friend out the door before he could protest again.

“Tch,” Kiba could hear that Kin clicked her tongue in annoyance through the door after they made their escape.

_I would rather eat bugs than eat with her, even with the campus beauty there!_

**C= C= C= C= C=( つ＞＜)つ┌(;・ω・)┘**

“Dammit Kiba, we could have had sushi!” Chouji was roaring at Kiba as they came through the door, “She even invited Sasuke and Naruto! I want sushi!”

Kiba quickly opened the many takeout boxes he’d been holding on the big central table in their room, hoping the enticing fragrance and loads of meat would distract Chouji from his hangry rampage.

“Didn’t we get loads of food? C’mon, this is better than Sushi,” Kiba tried to persuade him, putting the eight or nine takeout boxes down on their table, “The chef at the restaurant is really good, and he always gave us extras.”

“It’d better be,” Chouji stomped over to their kitchen nook to wash his hands.

“What’s this about sushi?” Naruto moved his computer out of the way so he and Sasuke could also get ready to eat.

“Yamanaka-san’s roommate offered to treat us to Sushi once we were done with her computer, but KIBA just HAD to rush us out of there!” Chouji fumed.

“Look, I’m sorry, Chouji, but if I had to spend one more minute listening to that girl try to set up that asshole and Yamanaka-san, I would have stabbed myself with something,” Kiba argued.

“I wouldn’t have gone,” Sasuke said simply.

“See! See! With this guy’s temper, dinner would have been torture! Torture, I tell you!” Kiba pointed a finger at Sasuke half-vindicated, half-accusing, “Didn’t you get enough of that in first and second year? No more!”

“Man, those were the days,” Chouji smiled dreamily as he remembered those lavish dinners. Kiba remembered how damn awkward they'd been. Chouji still pouted like a kid robbed of his sweets, “I want sushi though…”

Naruto burst out laughing. “So what happened to your great plan to get a girlfriend, Kiba?” He teased.

Kiba glared at him but didn’t say anything. Instead, he stole a piece of pork from Naruto’s bowl and shoved it into his mouth before Naruto could complain.

Sasuke smirked, “We can have good sushi once we figure out how to sell the game. Come on.” he passed out the fortune cookies as they finished eating.

Naruto pulled out profiles of each company they’d collected at their pitch that he’d prepared, and the guys started flipping through each one and discussed the merits and drawbacks of working with each company.

“Akatsuki could be an interesting choice. They give partners lots of money and freedom and don’t interfere too much,” Kiba offered.

“I don’t think we really need money and freedom right now,” Chouji disagreed.

“Yeah, we need better distribution channels,” Naruto added, “I still think it comes back to BLOOM and ROOT.”

“I agree,” Sasuke said, “They’ve got the biggest groups and the most expertise in digital marketing, plus a good number of digital properties and licenses that would synergize well with the mobile game.”

“And the art departments to create assets to go with them, “ Chouji added as well.

“I can’t believe you can say synergies with a straight face,” Kiba muttered, “Fine, I guess I’m out-voted.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to talk to Akatsuki as well,” Naruto said.

“Agreed,” Sasuke didn’t bat an eyelid, “But I think we should focus on BLOOM and ROOT. We’ve got plenty of time to make a decision. The conversation we had with GM Nara was very promising but preliminary. We should schedule a fly out to discuss more concrete details soon. ROOT’s located here in Konohagakure, so we have a preliminary meeting with them this Thursday morning. Naruto, book them.”

“I’m not your secretary, teme,” Naruto scowled.

“You’re the one who was too much a loser to take electives. You actually have to be in classes this term,” Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.

“Alright, alright,” Naruto grumbled, “You’re cleaning up though.”

“I’ll take the garbage out when I leave,” Sasuke started to clean up, “I’m heading back to my brother’s place now.”

“I thought you were moving back in this weekend,” Chouji asked.

“Wash your socks first. If I find any more of those smelly things, I’m going to burn them.”

With that, Sasuke left, bookbag and garbage in hand. Naruto, Chouji, and Kiba looked at each other, horrified. Knowing that asshole, he’d actually do it.

**(ﾉ_ヽ)(ノωヽ)( > _ <)**

"Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan!" Tenten bounced up in excitement from where she was lying on her bed, “Check your emails! I just got the interview notice.”

Sakura and Hinata looked over at her from the big center table where they were working with their textbooks spread out in front of them. Neither of them had their phones or computers handy, but Tenten, who was working on a side project, evidently got the email alert.

“O-Oh,” Hinata took a second to firmly grasp the fear and trepidation rising in her heart. Sakura, who’d already opened her laptop to check, noticed her hesitation but didn’t say anything.

_Grow up, Hinata. It’s just rejection, you’re used to that by now._

Ignoring her negative self-talk, Hinata pulled up her phone, but her heart sank when she didn’t see an email notification pop up on her phone. Just before she put her phone away and really broke down crying, though, she saw the anxious look on Sakura and Tenten’s faces.

_No. I can’t do this. I can’t spoil what’s probably a happy occasion for both of them, even if I am rejected._

Fully grasping her courage, she unlocked her phone, pulled up her email app, and pulled down the screen to refresh. A new email notification popped up, and tremblingly, Hinata started to read the first subject line.

_Interview with Root Corp._

_Oh god, does that mean I passed the resume stage?_

Her heart in her throat, she opened the email.

_Dear Ms. Hyuuga. Congratulations! You have passed the resume stage of the process. We would like to invite you to our offices this Thursday morning, from 9-12, to participate in preliminary interviews._

“Hinata-chan?” Sakura asked, reaching across the table.

“I-I-I-I passed,” Hinata stuttered.

“Thursday morning?” Sakura confirmed, grinning broadly.

“Y-Y-Yes,” Hinata couldn’t believe it. _Then all three of us..?_

“Whoohoo! We’re all in!” Tenten jumped down from the bed and pumped her arms in the air. “You know what that means?”

“Interview prep sessions tonight?” Sakura asked eagerly.

Tenten looked at her, exasperated. “Sakura-chan… I meant celebratory bubble tea.”

“Oh come on, don’t look at me like that! We only have two days to prep!” Sakura protested.

Hinata giggled at their antics. “L-Let’s do both,” She suggested, linking her arms through both her roommates.

“See, Hinata-chan’s got the right idea,” Sakura grinned. “ROOT Corp, here we come! We can do this!”

As they gathered their things to go get that bubble tea, Hinata thought to herself that she might just believe that. She might just believe that she could do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bahaha poor Kiba has no luck with girls.
> 
> A little bit early with this installment, but I had this written and TWIWTH is still brewing, and I'm tired. Quarantine, man. I hope everyone else is dealing with this better than I am (and honestly AO3's email hiccup with my particular provider is not help >.> I like feedback, okay?). Thank you to Reglee and Chelsea for beating this chapter. As always, extended ANs on my Tumblr (in about 10 hours), and as always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and candy hearts spelling out messages always make my day. Stay safe and stay healthy, guys, and see you soon!


	11. One, Teensy-Weensy, Little Lie

_Previously…_

Hinata might just believe that she could do this.

_Currently…_

There was no way on this great Earth that Hinata could do this. _What was I thinking?_ She held her purse in a tight death grip, and the secretary bow of the elegant, lavender silk blouse she was wearing felt like it was cutting off her air supply.

She stared at the room full of job applicants, terrified out of her wits. _There were so many people!_ Dozens of students milled around the large lobby of ROOT Corp’s building, some dressed as elegantly as Hinata was, in her silk blouse and linen pantsuit, whereas some were dressed as casually as Tenten was, in a plaid button-up and slacks. Some of them looked a little arrogant, some of them looked fairly calm, and some even looked a little nervous, but Hinata was sure none of them felt as much bone-deep terror as she did, in that moment.

She was so scared, she didn’t realized she’d become an obstacle to the people coming and going until someone bumped into her frozen form from behind.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” A beautiful blond girl dressed in perfectly-tailored, business formal attire apologized. “I didn’t realize you’d stopped.”

“I-I-I’m sorry,” Hinata apologized as well, a little befuddled.

“No, it was my fault. I’ll be more careful next time,” with a smile, that girl waved and walked off towards the reception desk. As she left, Hinata realized that her two friends had also already walked to the desk and were looking for her.

_Get yourself together, Hinata. It’s just an interview._

Hinata hurried to where Sakura and Tenten were waiting, as they joined in the long line to check in with the front desk.

“Did you see who’s here as well?” Tente whispered to them, “The pretty blond girl!” Surreptitiously, she made significant eye gestures to the blond head three people ahead of them in line.

“Who?” Sakura asked in a more normal volume, obviously just as confused as Hinata was.

“It’s Yamanaka-san! The girl who beat you out for campus beauty!” Tenten whispered, “Although I still think she won because your picture was blurry and out-of-focus.”

A look of annoyance flickered across Sakura’s face before she tried to change the conversation, “Isn’t she in business? What’s she doing interviewing here?”

“Th-They’re probably interviewing a bunch of different interns today,” Hinata offered quietly, “Tenten, you put our resumes and cover letters in for QA right?”

“Yep, Quality Assurance,” Tenten said cheerfully, her voice returning to a more normal volume as well. Hinata noticed that by then, Yamanaka-san had already moved away into the lobby to wait to be called for her interview.

_I really hope she didn’t hear us talking about her..._

(ノωヽ)

Sasuke could tell that Naruto was about ready to roll his eyes and snort. The idiot had made a heroic effort not to, but Sasuke hadn’t known the guy for three and a half years for nothing. He was actually kind of impressed Naruto had managed to last this long.

_Good thing we didn’t bring Kiba and Chouji with us today._

Sasuke almost wanted Naruto to lose his temper. He was reaching the end of his patience as well - if he heard one more idiotic platitude about how student teams often failed… But that would defeat the purpose of coming here today.

“Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san, we hope you’ll seriously consider our offer today,” GM Shigaraki finally wrapped up his little speech, “It really is very generous, more than what most fledgling companies can expect in an acqui-hire.”

“We understand and appreciate your generosity,” Sasuke said, cutting off Naruto before the other guy blew up in a spectacular fashion, “We will seriously consider your offer. But you understand, we weren’t expecting such an offer today when we came to discuss a joint partnership, so we’ll have to take it back to our partners to discuss.”

“Yes, of course, take all the time you need!” The GM’s typically gloomy face was all smiles now.

“In that spirit, could you maybe give us a quick tour of your gaming department? Sasuke asked.

Shigaraki hesitated. Sasuke could tell that this wasn’t a normal request but... 

“Just so we can get the lay of the land and meet some of your people,” He wasn’t above some clever misdirection. The other man brightened. He must’ve thought that the request meant they were very close to accepting ROOT Corp’s acqui-hire offer.

“Of course, of course. Sai-san-,” Shigaraki tried to draw the other, younger man in, but just as he was about to voluntell the team leader, a professionally dressed assistant poked his head through the door.

“Team Leader Shimura, the interviews for this year’s summer interns are about to begin. They’re just waiting for you.”

“I’ll have to excuse myself, GM Shigaraki,” The wan, androgynous man in a business suit got up, “My apologies, Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san. I’m sure we’ll have more time to discuss in the future.” He flashed them a photoshoot-ready smile before he left the room with the assistant.

“Well, I can just give you the tour, if you young fellows don’t disdain this old man,” GM Shigaraki smiled awkwardly.

“It’s our honour,” Sasuke bowed. As GM Shigaraki picked up his things to leave, Sasuke slipped Naruto a note.

_Behave. I’ll explain tonight._

**ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)**

Tenten really had to go to the bathroom.

_This is the last time I take Sakura’s advice ever again about bringing a water bottle into an interview with me. Take a drink of water every time you have to think of an answer to a question - that only works if you don’t have a small bladder!_

“Well Higurashi-san, your academic background and your side projects are well-suited to the QA role,” The gently smiling man who’d been the last to join the interview said to her. “We just have one more question for you: do you play any MMO Games, and if so, which ones and what’s your username?”

“MMOs?” Tenten panicked. _I haven’t played MMOs since middle school!_

“Massive Multiplayer Online games,” The lady with the round glasses explained, misinterpreting her panic as confusion, “These days we expect our interns to have some familiarity with our products.”

“I haven’t really made time to game since I entered University,” Tenten admitted sheepishly. _I can still make time to read the school gossip forums though… Oops…_ “I think the last time I played an MMO was… Nin-pets?”

“.... I’m not sure that’s exactly what we meant, Higurashi-san.”

**╮(￣ω￣;)╭**

“I am never bringing a water bottle into an interview ever again,” Tenten declared as she walked out of the stall, joining Sakura and Hinata at the sinks in the lady’s bathroom.

“Never mind your tiny bladder, tell us how your interview went!” Sakura demanded impatiently, “What kind of questions did they ask you? Any weird ones?”

“It went OK,” Tenten shrugged, “The questions were all fairly standard behavioural ones, like the stuff we practiced.” 

“H-How many interviewers were there?” Hinata asked.

“Three, two from the game development team, and one from the software development team. They all have pretty good poker faces. There’s one guy who gives me the willies though.”

“Wh-Which one?” Hinata asked.

“I forget his name. He just kept smiling,” Tenten shuddered.

“Oh no, a smiling interviewer,” Sakura rolled her eyes, “How could you forget names, Tenten-chan? You still have to write the thank you email!”

“They gave me business cards!” Tenten protested, pulling the three slips of crumpled, stiff paper out of her back pocket. “Let me see… this one. Yeah, he was in the gaming department. Team Leader Shimura Sai.”

“Hmm,” There was a silence as the three of them passed around the business cards, when Tenten suddenly remembered something.

“They did ask one weird question, though,” Tenten said thoughtfully.

“Wh-what?” Hinata asked nervously.

“If I played an MMO and if so, what was my username,” Tenten said, trying to remember exactly.

“Hmm,” Sakura wasn’t too bothered by it, but Hinata panicked a little. 

“Wh-what am I going to do?” She said, “I-I don’t play MMOs, and I don’t have an account!”

“Oh that’s easy enough,” Sakura tried to reassure her, “You can just use one of my side accounts for Way of the Ninja. It’s by Bloom, and the side account is _SakuraBranch_ , on the Hidden Leaf server. If they ask you what your favourite part of the game is, just tell them it’s meeting new people while doing missions. You can say that the Land of the Waves Quest is a particularly good example of it. I don’t use my side accounts anyways, so no one will know who that particular username is.”

“O-Okay. S-SakuraBranch, H-Hidden Leaf server, Meeting new people… and missions. G-gotcha,” Hinata repeated, trying to commit the details to memory.

“Hey, Sakura-chan, isn’t your main account SakuraBlossom? Won’t it raise questions if they’re too similar?” Tenten asked with a furrowed brow.

“S-SakuraBlossom?” Hinata asked, confused.

“We can just say we started playing together and had a common theme as roommates. That’s totally natural,” Sakura waved it off Tenten’s concerns. “C’mon, Hinata, it must almost be your interview time. We better get back out there.”

The three of them left the bathroom, Sakura and Hinata continuing to dissect Tenten’s interview experience. They may have thought they were leaving an empty bathroom behind, but after they left, the stall door nearest to the exit swung open…

**( o__O )**

Blinking at the stall door that had opened itself, Ino Yamanaka clambered down from where she’d been kneeling on the toilet seat, her ear pressed to a vent. _Thank god that happened after they’d left. Otherwise, that would’ve been awkward._ The snazzy business suit was a bit worse for wear after her adventure, though, but nothing a seasoned fashionista wouldn’t know how to deal with.

Ino had one of the last interview slots for the day, so knowing she’d have to wait at least a couple hours before her interview, she’d decided to go to a cafe to sit and prep her answers, when nature called. Right after she’d finished her business in the toilet, however, a muffled noise from the vent in her stall nearly made her drop her phone in the toilet bowl. 

Instead of doing the rational thing and walking away from the probably haunted vent, Ino, like the dignified young lady she was, got right up in there to try to hear what those sounds were. Instead of something calling for her blood, she’d heard an interview being conducted. In fact, she’d heard that girl’s - w _hat was her name again? Ten-something? Ah, I should probably forget anyways -_ interview being conducted.

 _It’s probably a little unfair, but it’s not like I’m doing anything no one else could have done if they’d found this toilet stall first_ , Ino rationalized it to herself. _I just got lucky._

Her mind made up, she took a piece of gum out of her bag, chewed it slightly, and crammed it into the lock of the bathroom stall so it wouldn’t open by itself again.

**┐('～`;)┌**

**__**_He so obviously has no clue what he’s talking about. Why the hell are we wasting our time here?_ Naruto tried to control his facial features. He really did. But from the looks Sasuke was giving him, he wasn’t doing a great job. Luckily, he was walking behind GM Shigaraki the whole time, so it probably didn’t matter much…

_Right? Ah, who cares anyways? It’s not like we’re coming back here. So why is that asshole wasting our time? I got games to play and ramen to eat!_

“if you think any louder, someone will overhear you,” Naruto nearly jumped when he heard Sasuke’s low voice in his ear.

“What’s that?” GM Shigaraki turned to look at them.

“I was just telling Naruto that you have a nice office space,” Sasuke smiled. 

Naruto snorted. _That asshole’s usually better at lying._

“We’re very proud of the office. We invited the very best to design the perfect open-air concept office plan...”

Naruto tuned out the rest of his boring architectural digest. _The people! I want to meet the people! And what kind of game company doesn’t have any merch or art from their properties on display?_

Right as they were about to turn into a kitchen with free food, Naruto got distracted by a very familiar map on a screen. _Is that…? Way of the Ninja? Hang on, what the heck are they doing playing a rival company’s game at work?_

“Uzumaki-san?” Shigaraki asked him.

“Right behind you,” Naruto joined them in the kitchen before that bore of a GM could see what he was looking at. _I wonder if that’s why…_

_That asshole! He could have just told me before we got here!_

**(`皿´＃)**

**__**_This is horrible. Torture._ Hinata complained to herself as she nervously sweated through her silk blouse.

“Hyuuga-san, can you give us an example of when you overcame adversity, and how you handled it?” Hinata didn’t know which interviewer had asked the question because she hadn’t been able to raise her head the whole time, but she did her best anyways.

“U-uhm, when I was i-in high school and I-I was applying for U-Universities, m-my family was very insistent on wh-which programs I should apply to, b-but I really wanted to study c-computer science,” Hinata started, “S-So I asked a g-guidance counsellor at my sch-school for help. Sh-she gave me the recommendation, w-walked me through applications, l-let me send all the papers to her address i-instead of my parents, and i-in the end I was accepted to K-Konoha University, my dream program. I-I hadn’t gotten into any of the p-programs my family w-wanted me to apply for, so m-my father h-had to allow me to attend K-Konoha U. I-It was difficult, b-but I got my desired result.”

Hinata looked up in confusion when none of the interviewers said anything and met their eyes for the first time. She flushed in shame and embarrassment when she saw the pity and compassion in their gazes.

Team Leader Shimura, seeing her discomfort, smiled gently to cut through the awkwardness, “That’s excellent Hyuuga-san. From your transcript, I can see you’re doing quite well in Konoha U. It’s a top-level program.”

“Th-Thank you,” Hinata said, surprised by his comments.

“And for our last question today,” Team leader Shimura consulted his paper, “do you play any MMO Games, and if so, which ones and what’s your username?”

:I-I play W-Way of the Ninja, and m-my username is SakuraBranch.”

Sai’s hand froze over the paper, “SakuraBranch? Not on the Hidden Leaf Server?”

“Yes?” Hinata panicked when she saw the peculiar look on Sai’s face. _Does he recognize the user name? Oh no! Did I accidentally use Sakura-chan’s main account?_

“You don’t happen to have any friends who play, do you?” Sai asked.

“M-My roommates and I all started playing together a couple months ago,” Hinata lied. Her palms were sweaty.

“I see....,” Sai made another note on his clipboard. “Well, thank you very much for your time Hyuuga-san. We’ll be in touch.”

“Th-thank you,” Hinata bowed to the panel, before she fled from the room as fast as she could.

**ε=ε=┌( >_<)┘**

Sakura was less surprised than she should have been when, right after her interview finished, Hinata blurted out, “I-I’m so sorry, Sakura-chan!”

She sighed. _Hinata really needed more confidence_. “What happened? I’m sure it’s nothing that can’t be solved.”

“I-I don’t think I interview very well,” Hinata admitted, starting to tear up a bit, “A-Also, I-I think I a-accidentally used your m-main account, a-and I think Team Leader Shimura might have recognized it.”

“Oh Hina-chan,” Seeing how distressed the other girl was, Sakura suppressed all of her questions about the interviewer who seemed to recognize her and just focused on consoling her, “Don’t worry about the username mix up, I’ll just use my side account. That’s a small thing. And I’m sure the interview wasn’t as bad as you thought it was.”

“I-I talked about how I disappointed my parents as a challenge I faced,” Hinata choked out.

Sakura winced, “It was a challenge for you, though!” _Help,_ She signalled Tenten with her eyes

“Yeah,” Tenten sighed, “C’mon Hina-chan, it’s all over now for you anyways. You’ve done what you’ve done, and there’s nothing more you can do.”

“That’s not comforting, Tenten-chan!” Sakura growled subvocally.

“But it’s true!” Tenten protested, “Since there’s nothing else you can change now, worrying’s not going to help!”

“Tenten! Sometimes people just have anxiety!” Sakura hissed.

“S-Sakura-chan, Tenten-chan, don’t fight about it,” Hinata sniffed, pulling a tissue out of her bag, “Y-You both have your points, and I understand you’re both trying to make me feel better.”

“Are we succeeding?” Tenten cracked.

Hinata’s smile was a bit watery, but it was there, barely, “A little.”

“Good,” Tenten grinned, “Just remember, too, an interview is a two-way street. If you’re a unicorn, but the company is looking for a bear, it doesn’t make you any less fabulous.”

Even Sakura laughed at this crack. “Thanks, Tenten-chan,” Hinata started rifling in the small handbag she’d brought, looking for some tissues.

“Haruno Sakura?” A well-dressed receptionist called Sakura’s name. She got up, gave herself a once over to make sure there were no tear stains to mop up, and put on her game smile to face the panel next.

**(＾◡＾)**

“You have quite the transcript, Haruno-san. What do you do for fun?” The woman with light, straw-coloured hair smiled at her. She’d introduced herself as Team Leader Nono earlier.

“I spend time with my friends and family. Recently, I’ve been playing an MMORPG with my roommates,” Sakura was pretty sure the smile was about to fall off her face any minute. _Yes, I know you’re not supposed to lie in interviews, but so long as we all play together afterwards, I’m not technically lying that much? Just… getting the time a little out of order._

“You’re a gamer? With your grades?” Team Leader Yamato asked, raising an eyebrow.

 _Not this again._ Sakura’s spine straightened, “I prioritize and manage my workload very well, and one of the things that work so well about Way of the Ninja is that it’s very forgiving if a player needs to take a break. I believe gaming is an evolution of media and story-telling that can surpass the limits of what writing and art can do, creating a nearly perfect medium to preserve the culture and break the limits of human geography. It’s worth making the time for.”

The three interviewers stared at her in silence. _Shannaro! I did it again!_ Sakura blushed when she realized that she’d gotten on to her old soapbox again.

“That’s very true, Haruno-san,” Team Leader Shimura smiled at her, “Which one of our games best embodies your vision?”

Sakura flushed, caught off guard. She knew of ROOT Corp.’s games, but she hadn’t actually played any of them. They were all mobile clicker games that were glorified Skinner boxes. _I can’t very well come out and just say that, though._ “My apologies, I’m not as familiar with ROOT CORP’s games,” As soon as the thoughtless words came out of Sakura’s mouth, she knew she’d blown the interview. The smiles on the three panellists’ faces turned a bit stiff, and the silence was awkward.

“Yes, well, hopefully, you take some time to get familiar with them. Thank you very much for your time today, Haruno-san. We’ll be in touch,” Team Leader Nono said, effectively dismissing her from their room. None of the other two interviewers even bothered looking at her anymore.

 _Shannaro! I really did blow it. They didn’t even ask me the MMO username question._

Sakura got up, shook hands with the three of them, and got out of there as fast as she politely could.

**(ノ_ < )**

**__**_Dammit!_ Ino was going to get a U shaped imprint on her knees at this rate. She adjusted her perch so that she was squatting on the toilet seat instead of kneeling on it. _This is going to be murder on my clothes._ Still, she’d learned very important information from her eavesdropping. 

Ino was so lost in her own worries that she put too much weight on her right leg and slipped. In some freak accident, she toppled over, falling butt-first onto the bathroom floor. THUNK. Ino winced when she felt the back of her head smack against the stall door. The heel of one foot landed in the toilet bowl.

 _Thank goodness I flushed._ Ino groaned. _Oh god, my head hurts._

“Um, are you okay in there?” someone called from the other side of the stall door.

“I would appreciate some help. Could you please get the door?” Ino called back. Her voice was a bit weak and groggy.

“Give me a minute,” With a grunt, Ino heard the other person fiddling with the door before she felt it swing open at her back and a pair of hands grasp her firmly under the armpits. After a couple of experimental tugs, the person behind her managed to drag her out of the stall, to the point where Ino could stand up on her own.

“Thanks,” slowly, painfully, Ino levered herself off the floor and finally took a good look at her saviour. The girl was about average height and, to Ino’s very experienced eye, very beautiful, with shoulder-length pink hair and clear green eyes. Her face had a lovely symmetry, and Ino wanted to know who her esthetician was because her skin was so damn clear that she could probably reflect the moonlight. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Don’t mention it, Yamanaka-san,” her saviour smiled at her. Ino frowned. _Had they met?_ “Are you okay? Do you need a painkiller? It sounded like you hit your head pretty hard.

Ino’s head throbbed, “If you had one, you’d be saving me again.”

“I do. Here,” the other girl rummaged into her purse until she found a small tube of pills and popped one for Ino.

“Thanks,” Ino took them gratefully and swallowed it dry. As she tried to get them down, she absently patted off some dust on her skirt. Looking down at her foot, though, she grimaced. “Looks like I’ll just have to do this interview with a wet shoe. Oh well. Do you think they’ll notice?” Ino smiled mischievously at the pink-haired girl.

The other girl grinned back, “They’re black. I think you’ll be fine.”

Ino absently checked her watch and panicked, “Oh no! It’s almost my interview slot! I have to go, thanks for your help!” Without even finding out her saviour’s name, she dashed out of the bathroom as quickly as she could.

Sakura watched her go, stifling a bit of a smile. _Looks like our famous campus beauty’s actually pretty approachable_.

**(*ﾉωﾉ)**

“Thank you for your time today, GM Shigaraki,” Sasuke smiled. _Naruto’s made it this far. Will he make it to the door before he opens his big mouth?_

“Of course, Uchiha-san. We look forward to hearing from you soon, with regards to the offer today.”

“Of course. We’ll definitely be discussing your proposal,” Sasuke shook his hand as the man finally turned around and left them at the reception desk

_Now if Naruto could just remember there are ears everywhere…_

“Hey, Sasuke,” Naruto piped up.

_Nope._

“Naruto, why do you think so many people are in the lobby today?” Sasuke asked, tilting his chin towards the unusually crowded lobby area.

“Hmm,” Distracted, Naruto turned and scanned the room, “I recognized some of the faces. I wonder if they’re hiring for summer interns?”

“Maybe,” Having successfully cut off what that idiot was going to say right in their enemy’s territory, Sasuke started moving towards the exit again before Naruto could remember what he was about to say. He didn’t actually care what they were doing with a bunch of Konoha U students in their lobby.

“Hey, wait a minute. Look!” Naruto stopped Sasuke and frantically gestured at a blond girl coming out of one of the hallways. She strode in like she owned the place, confident with a dazzling smile.

“What?” Sasuke glanced over coldly.

“It’s Yamanaka-san, the campus beauty,” Naruto grinned. “Lucky!”

Sasuke scoffed at him, “Let’s go.”

“Hey, hey!” Naruto protested, “Oh come on, asshole!”

“You look lame, idiot,”

Naruto was about to retort when his attention was caught by something else. A lecherous grin spread on his face. “Hey, look, it’s our department beauty!”

This made Sasuke pause and look. Sure enough, another girl came out of the same hallway a couple of minutes later to join two other girls waiting for her. Unknowingly, his lips curled into a small smile. _She cleans up nicely_. He still remembered the yoga pants and the hoodie from the internet cafe.

“Oi, Asshole,” Naruto eyed him suspiciously, “What’s with the smile?”

“Thinking about how to burn your favourite pair of ramen socks,” Sasuke lied with a totally straight face. “They’re probably still smelly and on my bed right now.”

“Don’t you dare!” Naruto yelped, all thoughts of hot girls flying out of his head.

“You better go home and wash them then,” With a last glance at those green eyes, he finally turned to leave, dragging a protesting Naruto with him.

**(￣～￣)**

“So Yamanaka-san, you’re a business major but decided to apply to our project management intern role?” Team Leader Nono raised an eyebrow at her.

“Absolutely. I believe that at the core of any company are the people,” Ino replied confidently, “Technology companies right now are driving all kinds of innovation - working as a project manager in a Tech company like ROOT is like coordinating the future. In addition, it’s not like I don’t have any technical experience. I took several Introduction to Coding classes and Technology in Business courses, and I have my own blog. While it’s not exactly the same thing, I believe my experience in coordinating with advertisers to monetize my blog is relevant to a project management role.”

“How so?” Team Leader Shimura smiled a little at her cockiness.

“It only took me one phone call with their tech support to get them to stop putting racy ads on my blog,” Ino cracked a smile, “I was very persuasive.”

Team leader Yamato burst out laughing, “That is quite an achievement, Yamanaka-san.”

“So Yamanaka-san, you applied specifically for the gaming department. Can you tell us why?”

“I enjoy MMOs a lot. I play Way of the Ninja, and appreciate the immersive storytelling that happens in the game. There’s a mission in Way, called Escort the Bridge Builder to the Land of Waves, that tells a different story every time you play it. While I understand that ROOT Corp hasn’t built any MMOs yet, I noticed from your full-time hiring that you’re looking to build an MMO team, and I want to be part of that.” Ino said, her eyes shining.

Team leader Shimura’s eyes darkened, “What’s your username in Way, Yamanaka-san?”

Not knowing the storm she’d set off with this one, teensy-weensy, little lie, Ino replied, “SakuraBlossom.”

**(＾◡＾)**

Hinata, Sakura, and Tenten left the ROOT Corp building soon after Sakura’s interview wrapped up, having spent most of their free Thursday morning in the building. Hinata was quiet as Sakura told them all about finding Yamanaka-san in the bathroom, but that wasn’t so unusual for her.

That’s why they were both more than a little surprised when Hinata suddenly interrupted their conversation and asked “Sakura-chan?”

“What is it, Hinata-chan?” Sakura looked at her.

“C-Can you show me how to play Way of the Ninja?” Hinata asked, “I-I don’t know if I failed that interview or not, b-but on the off-chance that I didn’t, I don’t want to have lied that much.”

Sakura stopped dead in her tracks, making the other two nearly trip over her. She grabbed the other girl’s hands, eyes shining.“Are you serious, Hinata-chan?” 

Hinata blinked in astonishment at her reaction, “Yes?”

“Hey, if you guys are going to start playing, count me in too!” Tenten exclaimed.

“Yes!! Of COURSE I’ll show you guys!” Sakura grabbed Tenten’s hand as well, then stopped and frowned. “Except… you guys can’t let it get in the way of your studies, okay?”

“Sakura-chan, you’re such a goodie two shoes!” Tenten protested. Sakura only stared at her, until Tenten rolled her eyes, “Of course I’m not going to let it get in the way of my studies or my school work. Just because we’re not all scholarships students like you doesn’t mean we’re irresponsible.” She flicked a finger on Sakura’s forehead.

Sakura dodged but smiled sheepishly at her, “Sorry. I’m just so excited to have real-life gaming friends, but I don’t want to screw you guys over...”

“L-Let’s see how it goes, okay?” Hinata said nervously, “I don’t know if I’m going to be any good at this.”

“That’s okay, I’ll teach you!” Sakura grinned, slinging an arm around each of her roommates, “We are going to have so much fun playing together!”

Hinata and Tenten glanced at each other. What had they gotten themselves into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a comedy of errors! All these lies - I wonder how they're going to turn out... huehuehue
> 
> Ask me how many times I flashed back to my internship interviews in University while I was writing this chapter (Answer: I had to call the SO for emotional support. No joke.) For the record, though, the unicorn advice and the waterbottle tactic are 100% bonafide great ideas (except if you have a small bladder-like Tenten... and me). Also, Ino crouching on a toilet in a snazzy business suit is going to be one of my favourite images from this fic, and it's entirely my own, hehe. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! As always, extended ANs on my Tumblr (in about 10 hours), and as always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and saying it with diamonds always make my day. Stay safe and stay healthy, guys, and see you soon!


	12. An Unwelcome Guest

_Previously..._

Sakura grinned, slinging an arm around each of her roommates, “We are going to have so much fun playing together!”

Hinata and Tenten glanced at each other. What had they gotten themselves into?

_So then…_

“I’m about to become a gaming widow,” Temari declared gloomily. She had her jacket on, her purse over her shoulder, and an overnight bag in her hand, but she still looked back at her three roommates with an overly dramatic sigh.

“Go get Shikamaru-senpai to comfort you,” Tenten retorted absentmindedly, “Hey Sakura-chan, didn’t I already choose an in-game name?”

“He’s almost as bad with his online Go,” Temari muttered.

“No, you chose an account name. This is the one that your character will go by and other people will recognize you as,” Sakura said as the three of them all ignored Temari’s disgruntled muttering.

“I’m leaving, and I’m going to spend the night with Shikamaru if any of you care!” Temari announced loudly.

“See you t-tomorrow, Tema-chan,” Hinata called, not looking up from where she was trying to decide between pastel lavender and pastel lilac for her avatar’s eye colour.

“Bye Temari-chan!” Tenten chirped, “So can I use the same name for my character then?”

“See ya Temari-chan,” Sakura was still looking over Tenten’s shoulder at her username, “Yes, yes you can. Although if it’s your main, it just means that if you’re ever on the forums, you’ll be more identifiable.”

Temari shook her head and smiled fondly at the three of them. Since Tenten and Hinata were both engrossed in creating their characters, and Sakura was trying to get them to hurry up (they’d been at it for the past half hour for crying out loud), Temari decided to just make a graceful exit and leave them to it.

“Okay, I think I’m good. Hurry up already, Hinata-chan,” Tenten muttered as she fought with the controls in the newbie area, “Sakura-chan, why can’t I-”

“No- Don’t - you have to - Here, let me,” Sakura nudged Tenten aside. Tenten ceded her seat to her, watching as Sakura opened the menu that Tenten had ignored.

"I-I'm almost done," Hinata said, as her fingers hesitated over the keyboard, "I just need to come up with a name. D-Don't rush me, okay? This is hard."

"Look, don't even bother with the W, A, S, and D keys, just change your keybinds and use your mouse,” Sakura explained.

"Change my what now?" Tenten watched her, baffled.

"The keys you press to …,” Sakura was about to show her, when a knock came from the door, "Door’s open! Just come in." They all figured it would just be Temari coming back because she forgot something, so none of them bothered to look up until Hinata’s soft voice called possibly the last name she had been expecting.

"Neji-niisama," Hinata sounded surprised and hesitant, "I wasn't expecting you."

"I have found phone messages to be an inefficient way to communicate with you," Neji glanced at her. Hinata flushed and looked down at her phone, a bit guiltily.

“Who’s this, Hinata-chan?” Tenten looked up at the block of wood that had just walked into their dorm. Sakura didn’t recognize him either, but she remembered the name from the forum incident.

“Th-this is my older cousin, Hyuuga Neji,” Hinata introduced him briefly. “M-My apologies, Nii-sama. These are my roommates, Haruno Sakura and Higurashi Tenten.”

“Hello,” Tenten tried to smile brightly, but she was a bit alarmed when Sakura barely acknowledged him. She kind of understood why when Hinata’s cousin simply gave them both a stony look, though. _What a block of wood._

"What brings you all the way here? It must be time-sensitive," Hinata asked.

"It is. Applications for summer internships at the embassy have just opened for a brief period. It is an excellent opportunity. Uncle has asked me to tell you to not miss this chance and submit your resume in a timely manner,” Neji said, "The Ambassador is an old friend of Uncle’s, so he's willing to overlook many of your deficiencies."

Tenten frowned. She didn’t have much experience with families, but she was pretty sure this was not how an older cousin should be talking to his younger cousin. He was _mean_.

Hinata bit her lip. There was a tone Tenten had never heard before in her voice, one of grievance and irritation, when she replied, "W-would this be a coding opportunity, by chance? or have anything at all to do with computer science? Neji-niisama, y-you do remember what my major is, right?"

“Don’t be childish,” Neji reprimanded her, "We're simply thinking of your future."

“Don’t speak to Hinata like that," Sakura snapped. She glared at Neji with undisguised hostility. Tenten wasn’t all that happy with him either.

“Outsiders need not interfere with our family’s business,” He said, not at all politely. From where he was standing in the room, Tenten saw him peer at Sakura’s screen and sneer, “Especially not outsiders with poor prioritization. Don’t you have school work to do?”

Tenten snorted. _Out of all people to say that to… Sakura-chan? Hah!_ She caught the blockhead cousin looking at her when she laughed at him, so she beamed an especially charming smile at him. _He seems like the kind of guy who that would piss right off._ Sure enough, Mr. Rude looked away from her.

“N-Not that it’s any of your business, but w-we’re preparing for our internships. I-in a gaming company,” Hinata replied defensively.

“An internship with a gaming company?” Neji raised an eyebrow, “You believe that that’s the best use of your time, energy and education?”

“Y-Yes,” Hinata said. The cousins looked at each other in a weird staring contest that made Sakura and Tenten worry about Hinata. They could both see how white her knuckles were turning on her mouse. But Hinata didn’t back down.

 _Go Hinata-chan!_ Tenten wanted to cheer. The tension was so thick, though, she was afraid to say anything lest it snap back in her face.

Surprisingly, it was the overbearing cousin that gave in first. “Very well then. You can inform Uncle of how you’ve chosen to waste your summer. He’ll need to inform the ambassador and arrange the apartment for you.”

“R-Really?” Hinata asked, surprised.

“You’re old enough to waste your time however you want, even if it is wasting your time on games,” Neji said dismissively, turning to leave, “Just don’t drag me into however you choose to disappoint Uncle.” He moved to leave their dorm without another word.

“You’re such a condescending asshole,” Sakura finally lashed out.

Not to mention the Hyuuga cousins, even Tenten’s jaw dropped at her outburst. They all stared at her, but Sakura was so angry she looked like she was about to punch Neji. The target himself took one inadvertent step back. _Sakura-chan?!_

“For one thing, you don’t know anything about any of us, including your own damn cousin apparently, so don’t come in and flaunt your condescending attitude,” She ranted, “For another thing, gaming is an amazing new cultural medium that connects millions of people, builds lifelong friendships, and tells stories in a more immersive and unique way than ever before. So take your judgemental snobbery and shove it up your-”

“Sakura-chan!” Hinata exclaimed. Her cousin started to look a particularly lovely shade of puce, “I-I know you’re trying to stand up for me, b-but…”

Sakura looked at Hinata and then stopped, looking slightly embarrassed but still defiant. Tenten kind of wished Sakura had finished telling him to shove it where the sun don’t shine, but they both knew how nervous Hinata was about her family disapproving and pulling her out of the dorms. So Sakura sighed and gave in, “I apologize for my rudeness.”

“I didn’t expect anything more from you, Haruno-san,” Neji said, “I apologize for intruding. Hinata-sama, contact your father so I don’t report about your situation.”

With one more significant look at Hinata, he strode out of the dorm.

“What an ass!” Sakura yelled as soon as the door closed, “I’m sorry, Hinata-chan, but-”

“I-I understand,” Hinata smiled wanly, “Neji-niisama has a talent for… well. Th-there’s a reason he’s in foreign languages and not diplomacy.”

Tenten snorted, “He’s certainly special.” She said with a grin, “I see why you don’t hang out with him that often, Hinata-chan.”

Hinata sighed, “Neji-niisama j-just has a complex about certain things. H-He was really nice to m-me when we were growing up, but… w-well, for some reason, w-we’re no longer as we were back then. I think it’s because Father never gave him the same access to the family n-network, and h-he resents me because I-I don’t want it. So now...” she looked down, lost in her own thoughts.

Sakura and Tenten looked at each other, both sensing that they’d stepped on an emotional landmine, and both made a tactical decision to retreat and change the subject.

“Alright, get out of my seat and get your own laptop, Sakura-chan,” Tenten complained, bumping the other girl with her hip, “Hinata-chan, are you done yet?”

Hinata blinked, breaking out of her sad memories, and clicked a couple of things, “O-Oh uhm, yeah. I just… g-give me a minute. Yeah. I’m done. Wh-where do we go now?”

“Welcome to the Way of the Ninja, ladies,” Sakura grinned, bringing her laptop over.

＼(＾∀＾)メ(＾∀＾)メ(＾∀＾)ノ

Neji ignored the weird looks he got as he left the women’s dorms, too engrossed in his own thoughts. _Hinata-chan used to be so cute and obedient. I wonder what happened to her._

He’d helped her reach the lofty standards the Hyuuga had demanded, helped her cultivate the proper etiquette and bearing a Hyuuga Heiress required, and even ensured she surrounded herself with the proper companions. It was what he should do, as her older cousin.

Yet he’d been forced to leave her behind in High school. He hadn’t thought too much about it at the time - she’d have to become independent eventually - but who’d have thought she’d broken out in this mad idea of studying computer science instead of becoming a diplomat? It was simply a waste of the etiquette and bearing she’d cultivated since childhood, not to mention the extensive education as a Hyuuga Heiress.

To him, it was like watching a pilot making a living as a delivery driver. Neji couldn’t bear to watch it, never mind the stumbling block it represented to his own career.

As he reached his dorm, though, he thought of the small smile he’d seen on her face as Hinata played with her roommates. He’d noticed another thing, too - her forehead was no longer always so creased with worries. He supposed he should be grateful to those girls for that.

They’d been acceptable companions in the initial background checks - the Suna family was a well-known HR software company in Sunagakure that their family had a lukewarm relationship with, while that Higurashi girl was an orphan whose parents had both died in an industrial accident, leaving her with a large enough settlement to live independently and attend a top university without a scholarship.

That Haruno girl though…

Her family had seemed respectable enough, even if they were only barely making ends meet with their little bakery. While a more elevated background would have been preferred had Hinata-sama been pursuing the diplomatic path, the family wasn’t choosy, The girl herself had achieved outstanding scholastic results, otherwise, she would have never been able to attend Konoha U with her family’s meagre resources.

But after that picture… No. He could not allow such a blemish near Hinata-sama, even if she was no longer going down the diplomatic path.

Neji stared at his computer for the fiftieth time since that incident. He’d only begun to track down the source when everything was just gone. Any traces of the original post, the convenience store’s footage from the past week where the original picture was from, even all the screenshots he took - all of it was gone.

He could not simply let it go. But he could no longer proceed with his original approach. Given the rudeness she’d shown him in Hinata-sama’s dormitory, his reliable Plan B, befriending the suspect and getting their trust, wouldn’t work either.

_However… What did she say again?_

_Gaming is an amazing new cultural medium that connects millions of people and builds lifelong friendships?_

_If she won’t tell me in person, perhaps… Perhaps SharpandPointy will._

His eyes fell to his laptop again, and slowly his fingers typed something into the search bar. He was quite grateful for the extensive memory training that all Hyuuga children received and the glimpse of that Haruno girl’s screen he’d seen from over her shoulder.

_Way of the Ninja._

**(￢_￢;)**

“Oh come on!” Tenten exclaimed in disbelief, “How come you get such a cool bloodline limit Hinata-chan? I just got this weapon forging aptitude!”

“W-what is it?” Hinata turned quizzically to Sakura.

“The Byakugan is one of the rarer bloodline limits in the game,” Sakura explained. Even she was a bit jealous of Hinata. “Basically it lets you see all the opponents weak spots and aim directly at those, and you can also see chakra in the environment, not just in your body map. It’s a bit overwhelming, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be invincible. It’s a one in ten thousand ability - you’re unlikely to meet another Byakugan user on the server. You’re so lucky, Hinata-chan.”

“O-Oh,” Hinata looked a bit overwhelmed.

“Also, Tenten-chan, that forging aptitude can make you a lot of gold in-game. It may not be as rare as Hinata-chan’s limit, but it’s still really good,” Sakura let out an exasperated sigh, “Damn, how’d I end up with the most boring limit?”

“I can make money?” Tenten perked up, “I like money.”

“Lots of it once you get to higher levels. With that bloodline ability, you probably have the highest chance of making the most powerful weapons in the game. Here, let me give you some basic supplies so you can try it out. Remember to make me something powerful when you get to the top,” Sakura grinned at her. Sakura wasn’t a forger, but it was inevitable for every ninja to pick up some raw materials of every kind. She’d been too lazy to get rid of her most basic mats, but if she gave them to Tenten, she could make good use of them.

“S-Sakura-chan, don’t you have to go for tutoring soon?” Hinata asked, suddenly checking her watch.

With Hinata’s reminder, Sakura checked the time as well, “I have a few more minutes, but yeah. If you guys want to keep playing though, you’ll do better if you have a mentor. Hang on, let me see who from my friend list are online.”

“W-Won’t that be boring for them though? W-We don’t want to impose on your friends…,” Hinata worried.

“No, higher-level players get scaled down in lower level areas, and lower level missions can be quite valuable because fewer players will do the content and gather the materials. Besides, they get an experience boost by being your mentor. It’s a win-win situation for everyone, frankly,” Sakura explained as she scrolled.

Her cursor hovered over two names in particular. _Would they? They seemed nice enough… They’re certainly strong enough..._

> **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] SakuraBlossom:** Hey, Old Man, can I ask you a favour?  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** What’s up, 3SIL?  
>  **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] SakuraBlossom:** My roommates just started with Way  
>  **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] SakuraBlossom:** I have to go, but they want to keep playing  
>  **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] SakuraBlossom:** Can you and Wulf mentor them?  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Lemme ask Wulf  
>  **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] SakuraBlossom:** Sure  
>  **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] SakuraBlossom:** lmk soon cause I g2g  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** He’s got one question  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Are they cute girls?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Neji, your EQ is so deplorable.
> 
> I do enjoy writing him, though, as much as I want to punch him at times. Also, thank you everyone for your patience while I took a week off for my mental health, and Reglee for making time to Beta even with their busy schedule. The Words I Want to Say will also get an update soonish (I think I underestimated exactly how much of a slow burn this story would be, and how much writing a slow burn would make me itch for shipper fluff), but honestly, when writing isn't fun, I gotta take a break. I'm back up to a bit of a backlog for the beta though, so all is well! I hope you enjoyed the installment and as always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and flying airplane banners always make my day. Stay safe and stay healthy, guys, and see you soon!


	13. Mentors and Mentees

> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** My roommates just started with Way   
> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** I have to go, but they want to keep playing   
> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Can you and Wulf mentor them?   
> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] OldRamenMan:** Lemme ask Wulf   
> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Sure   
> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** lmk soon cause I g2g   
> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] OldRamenMan:** He’s got one question   
> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] OldRamenMan:** Are they cute girls?   
> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** … Yes, yes they are   
> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** If you scare them away from the game I will beat you until you lose five levels.   
> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] OldRamenMan:** So scary, 3SIL!   
> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** I’m serious, Old Man   
> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] OldRamenMan:** dw dw   
> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] OldRamenMan:** I’ll tell him that 3Bro will beat him up if he does anything funny   
> **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] SakuraBlossom:** Good   
> **[Whisper to Beowulf69] OldRamenMan:** They’re guys playing as girls   
> **[Whisper to Beowulf69] OldRamenMan:** Sorry man   
> **[Whisper] Beowulf69:** Dam   
> **[Whisper] Beowulf69:** I dun wanna anymore   
> **[Whisper to Beowulf69] OldRamenMan:** C’mon   
> **[Whisper to Beowulf69] OldRamenMan:** It’s not like we’ve got anything better to do   
> **[Whisper to Beowulf69] OldRamenMan:** Besides you can just pretend they’re girls   
> **[Whisper] Beowulf69:** Fine   
> **[Whisper] Beowulf69:** But 3SIL owes me   
> **[Party] System:** SakuraBlossom has invited you to join her party. Type Y to accept her invite, N to reject   
> **[Self] OldRamenMan:** Y   
> **[Party] System:** OldRamenMan and Beowulf69 have joined the party.   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Tournesola, Pointy, these guys will take care of you and take you to your first mission.   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** I g2g. Thanks guys!   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Seeya 3SIL   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Bye 3SIL   
> **[Party] System:** SakuraBlossom has left the party!   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** /mentor   
> **[Party] System:** OldRamenMan has taken on a Mentor Role in the party.   
> **[Party] System:** Beowulf69 has taken on a Mentor Role in the party   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** So what did 3SIL show you guys?   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Just the tutorial and a basic mission to show us our kekkai genkai   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Which mission?   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Umm   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** ****   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** I forget XP   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** It was the [Deliver Potions from the Hospitals to the Field Medic] D-Rank Mission.   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Nice basic shit with good rewards   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Good start. What are your bloodline limits again?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** I have the Byakugan   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Forging aptitude   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Whoaaaaa what the ****!?   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Byakugan is pretty dope   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Hard to master though   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** I am doing my best, but it is a bit overwhelming.   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Hey, if you have the Byakugan, we should do the Cat Mission   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Oo good call   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** I think it’s on the east board   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** leggo!   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Sure   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** You know how to activate your kekkai genkai, right?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** I believe I do know   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Turn it on as we walk   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** It’s a bit overwhelming, but better to try now than get overwhelmed later.   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** This is very confusing   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** What do you see?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** It seems as though there many layers of white lines everywhere, and bright floating points along your bodies   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Just in front of you?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Yes. It looks a bit like a slice of the pie suddenly went dark.   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** K, you should stop now, you’re depleting your chakra   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** I’m sorry   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Don’t apologize, you’ll get better at this   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Hey, Sola, where’d your friend go?   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** We left her at the newbie area…   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Sorry!   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** I’m actually going to drop and check out the forging stuff.   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Sakura-chan gave me some stuff to start practicing with   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** OK no worries!   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Pce   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Should I leave the party?   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Probably   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Er…   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Right-click on one of our icons to bring up the menu   
> **[Party] System:** SharpandPointy has left the party   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Right, okay   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** So basically, we just need to find the cat   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** He’s hiding somewhere randomly in the city   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** And with your Byakugan, it should be a snap.   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Wulf and I will back you up   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** But you should be able to find and chase him yourself   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Ready to try?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Yes, I will try.   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Should be a piece of cake

(*￣▽￣)b (≧-≦) d(°∀°d)

 _There’s something very meditative about this,_ Tenten had to admit to herself as she carefully learned the timing for forging a simple senbon. She was starting to really get the hang of the mechanics, understanding chakra and how to push out the correct amount through her - what did Sakura call them? Tekken? With her forging aptitude bloodline limit, the timing was more forgiving, and her luck was pretty good, which meant she had a full basic weapon set and only used two of the chakra replenishing potions Sakura had given them before she’d left.

She was just trying for an uncommon set of kunai, which had the narrowest and most precise timing of anything she’d attempted so far, when-

“Oh gosh darn it!”

“Fuck!” Startled, Tenten totally missed the timing on the kunai, just creating a pile of scrap metal. She wasn’t so worried about her metal, though, but the source of the exclamation.

“S-Sorry, Tenten-chan,” Hinata apologized, not taking her eyes off the screen.

She looked over at Hinata, who was actually scowling at her laptop. “What happened, Hinata-chan?”

“I still haven’t caught this s-stupid cat!” Hinata nearly shouted the last two words.

 _I think this is the first time I’ve seen Hinata so pissed off._ Amused, Tenten watched Hinata narrow her eyes and press some buttons, tensely waiting for something. However… after a couple of minutes, she winced and slumped back in her chair in defeat. Exasperated, Hinata massaged her temples.

“What happened, Hina-chan?” Tenten asked, feeling a bit bad for her.

“I-I ran out of chakra potions, and w-we still haven’t found the cat!” Hinata complained.

“Oh no,” Tenten sympathized.

“Th-this was supposed to be easy,” Hinata muttered resentfully. She sighed and looked back down at her screen, “I-I was just getting the handle on my Byakugan, too. I’ll have to quit, now, though.”

“Hang on, I still have three of the five chakra potions Sakura-chan gave us. Take two,” Tenten stopped her, opening up her friends menu to figure out how to send something to Hinata.

“A-Are you sure?” Hinata asked.

“Yeah, you’re the one with the chakra intensive bloodline limit,” Tenten waved her off, “I’m done forging anyways, so I should be fine with just one more potion. Though, if you guys are still doing that cat mission, I’m going to find something else.”

“S-Sorry,” Hinata apologized again.

“Don’t worry about it! Just catch that cat,” Tenten grinned.

Hinata smiled back, then focused on her screen with a determined look, “I-It’s mine.”

Amused, Tenten watched the normally elegant and ladylike Hinata hunker down at her computer like a proper geek to catch a digital feline. She went back to her own game, looking a bit regretfully at the failed kunai. _That was the last of my metal, too. I guess I should try to find a mission… I wonder if a stranger will mentor me. Oh well, I might as well try._

She made her way back to the large board mission board and started browsing through the many, many, many missions until she felt entirely overwhelmed at all the possibilities. These weren’t even all the missions in Way of the Ninja - she was just looking at the ones available to her as a low-level n00b.

 _Here goes nothing_ …

> **[Here] SharpandPointy:** Hey, n00b looking for a mentor here. Anyone making groups?   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** n00b   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** **** no   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** Who’s got time to waste   
> **[Here] SharpandPointy:** Go away then   
> **[Here] SharpandPointy:** No need to be rude   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** Hey *****   
> **[Here] Chun_Lee:** I’ll mentor you!   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** **** back to whatever n00b game you came from   
> **[Here] Chun_Lee:** We’ve got the same hairstyle, we can be bun-buddies! ^_^   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Just ignore him, he’s got… issues   
> **[Here] SharpandPointy:** I can tell he’s got erectile dysfunction issues, from that username   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** …   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** wrong channel?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SharpandPointy:** Nope   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** WHO HAS ISSUES?!   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** *****   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** *****   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** *****   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** Sleep with one eye open, **** because Imma come for you   
> **[Here] SharpandPointy:** I’m so scared   
> **[Here] SharpandPointy:** of your tiny, limp knife   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Maybe you should stop provoking him…   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SharpandPointy:** He’s so much fun though   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Yeah but he could follow us and grief us   
> **[Here] Nuxalia:** Yuge, why are you always such an embarrassment?   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** They started it!   
> **[Here] Nuxalia:** Are you five?   
> **[Here] Nuxalia:** We’ve got a clan mission starting in two minutes, and you’re sitting here bickering with a couple of n00bs?   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** FINE   
> **[Here] YugePen1s:** *****   
> **[Here] SpinFan96:** Are you solely mentoring avatars with twin buns, or can I join you?   
> **[Here] SharpandPointy:** We don’t discriminate!   
> **[Here] SharpandPointy:** Er, at least I think we don’t.   
> **[Here] SharpandPointy:** Chun_Lee?   
> **[Here] Chun_Lee:** Welcome! Let me just invite you guys to a party and we can pick a mission and go.   
> **[Party] System:** Mentor Chun_Lee has invited you to join her party. Type Y to accept her invite, N to reject   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** You guys can just call me CL.   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** So what are your bloodline limits? Fighting styles?   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Mine is a weapons forging aptitude, and uh, I guess weapons?   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** I don’t know, I just started playing   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Ooh if you have a weapons aptitude, I bet you can also make seals at a higher level.   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** That’s super useful, I’m jealous   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** I have no idea   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Means you can carry more weapons and program different sequences for battle.   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** There should be a tutorial when you hit forging Ascended weapons   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** What about you, Spin?   
> **[Party] SpinFan96:** I have the Byakugan, which makes me most suited to Taijutsu   
> **[Party] SpinFan96:** Please take care of me   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Holy ****!!!!!!   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Byakugan?!?!?!?   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** That’s crazy!!   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** I’ve never met someone with that bloodline limit   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Huh, that’s weird   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** My friend also has the Byakugan   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** ****nnnn   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** What’s your bloodline limit and style, CL?   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** I’m a taijutsu main and my bloodline limit’s called the drunken fist   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Basically perfect immunity and perfect attack power while under the effects of drunkenness, but also doubles the damage drinking does   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Woah, there are limits like that in the game?   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** That’s so cool!   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** It’s more a gimmick than anything   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Since you’re both potentially taijutsu mains, let’s do something really foundational for taijutsu   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Speedrunning mission!   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** [D-rank Mission: Transport the volatile mixture to the medical lab]   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Basically to run this mission on time, you have speed up your running by pushing chakra out of your feet while keeping your character in motion.   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** But you can’t fall or get attacked   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Let’s practice first   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Ready?   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Whoo-hoo!   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Spin?   
> **[Party] Spinfan96:** Yes

**─=≡Σ((( つ^_^)つ((( つ^_^)つ((( つ-_-)つ**

Hinata took a deep breath as she made up her mind to try just one more time. It would have to be her last try - she was out of Chakra replenishing potions, and she only had enough Chakra to activate her Byakugan one last time. Filtering out all the distractions and ambient sounds around her, including Tenten muttering and swearing at her screen, her focus narrowed down to just the tiny slice of screen in front of her.

_You can do it, Hinata. You almost had it last time. Trust your gut._

> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** We’re in place, Sola   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Whenever you’re ready!   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** u can do iiiiiiiiit!

She navigated her character to the back of a small alley with stacks of wooden boxes and crates. Ignoring Old Man and Wulf standing on the roofs overhanging either side of the alley, she took a deep breath then activated her Byakugan.

The dark slice of her field of vision no longer discombobulated her as much as it had when she’d started playing a couple of hours ago. Instead, she focused on sorting through what the overlapping shadowy shapes indicated, because they looked like foggy transparencies overlapping each other in a confusing mess. She reigned in her field of vision when she realized she was looking through the wall, and didn’t get excited when she saw a small heat signature running by, because she already knew it was a mouse or a small rodent. Heart pounding, she did her best to ignore the low chakra warning that had started popping until-

 _Found it!_ Just as she caught a glimpse, the world turned normal again. Hinata had glimpsed a medium-sized heat signature in a crate, two boxes deep and one down from the tallest box in the stack

> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Did you find it?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Yes   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** It’s in the under the box under tallest crate   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** OK get ready Wulf   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** It’s just a mangy cat

Having done her part, Hinata relaxed as she watched one orange jumpsuited avatar move, light as air and not making a sound, to balance near the crate she’d pointed out. She wondered if she had her sound settings off since she didn’t hear any ambient sound as Ramen Man’s avatar gently, slowly lifted the two boxes. A loud yowl coming from her speakers the next second proved her wrong though - it was so discordant, it made both her and Tenten jump.

“Fuck fuck shit shit!” Tenten snarled.

“Sorry, Tenten-chan!” Hinata exclaimed, almost helpless with laughter at her reaction. She was laughing so hard she almost missed watching the cat leap right into Wulf’s arms, but not before it got a good swipe across his face. Three red lines appeared on his avatar’s face.

> **[Party] System:** You have completed the [D-Ranked Mission: Capture that cat!]. The owners profoundly thank you for your assistance in returning their precious to them!   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** LOLOLOLOLOLOL   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Are you okay?

She could tell by his health bar that he’d only taken a little damage, but those three lines didn’t disappear. She started getting a bit concerned, though, when neither Wulf nor Ramen moved for a good couple of minutes

> **[Party] Tournesola:** Guys?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Are you still there?   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Sry, irl pvp

Hinata squinted her eyes at those nine letters. She supposed they must mean something somehow, but… _Would I look stupid if I asked?_

> **[Party] Tournesola:** irl pvp?   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** don’t worry about it   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** GJ!   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Told you you’d find it eventually   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** eventually   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Hey, how long did it take you to find out Akamaru wasn’t just a mascot?   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Shut up   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Thank you both for all your help today   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Could we maybe repeat this process in the future?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Only if it’s not too much trouble   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Like a static?   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** I’m down   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** I wanna see what you can do with your Byakugan   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Sure   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Same time next week?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Yes, that works for me   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Same   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Add me   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Sorry Sola-kun, I g2g   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Class.   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Nice 2 meecha tho   
> **[Party] Mentor Beowulf69:** Seeya soon!   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Goodbye   
> **[Party] System:** Beowulf69 has left the party   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** It was a pleasure to meet you as well   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh, I guess I was a bit late on that   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Don’t worry about him   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** Hey, you were using a bunch of chakra potions right?   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** You want me to show you how to improve your chakra capacity?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** I would really appreciate that if it’s not too much trouble   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** it’s no trouble!   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** I have to improve my capacity too anyways   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Sure   
> **[Party] Mentor OldRamenMan:** C’mon, I know a good spot to meditate.

**( 〃▽〃)(^ ω ^ *)**

> **[Party] System:** You have completed the [D-rank Mission: Transport the volatile mixture to the medical lab]. Congratulations for making it all the way without sprouting another limb… this time.   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** FINALLY   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Whaddya talking about?!   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** That’s the fastest I’ve seen any sub-level 20 team finish that mission!   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** We can do better   
> **[Party] Spinfan96:** I concur   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** overachievers lol   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** pff well if you want to do better, you guys should do some meditation and increase your chakra reserves.   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Look, go to the tearoom in the north of the city, then use the /meditate emote   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** then be patient and don’t move   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** every couple of minutes or so, you should see a point of light appear in your body   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Channel your chakra there   
> **[Party] Spinfan96:** I have seen a video on the forums about this mechanic   
> **[Party] Spinfan96:** I can figure it out   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Oh good, because I have to go   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** This was fun, though!   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Can we do this again?   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Same time next week?   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Set up a static?   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** I’m down!   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Spin?   
> **[Party] Spinfan96:** It would be too inefficient to find another group. I agree.   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** It’s settled then!   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Let me add you guys as friends then   
> **[Self] System:** Chun_Lee has added you as a friend. Type Y to add her as well, type N to refuse   
> **[Self] SharpandPointy:** Y   
> **[Self] System:** You and Chun_Lee are now friends   
> **[Self] System:** Spinfan96 has added you as a friend. Type Y to add him as well, type N to refuse   
> **[Self] SharpandPointy:** Y   
> **[Self] System:** You and Spinfan96 are now friends   
> **[Party] Mentor Chun_Lee:** Bye guys!   
> **[Self] SharpandPointy:** Byeee   
> **[Party] System:** Chun_Lee has left the party   
> **[Party] Spinfan96:** Are you going to continue playing?   
> **[Party] Spinfan96:** I have to leave soon, but I can show you how to meditate now   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Sure, if it’s not too much trouble   
> **[Party] Spinfan96:** Not at all   
> **[Party] Spinfan96:** We should deepen our understanding of each other as new teammates   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Okeydokey, lol

**(─‿‿─)**

> **[Party] Tournesola:** I think I just succeeded!   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Knew you could do it!   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** I only hope that the next time won’t take an hour to get the knack for it   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** It’s all good, I’ve enjoyed talking to you   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** I, too   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh if it’s not too much trouble   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** I meant to ask   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Ask away   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Why do you call Sakura-chan 3SIL?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Because she’s married to our third brother   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Married?!   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** In the game   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** it’s a mechanic   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** You get bonuses fighting together and stuff   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh I see   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** So you have two brothers?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Er   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Long story   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** But I mean my roommates   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** we’re close like brothers   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** This reminds me of classic Kung-fu movies   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Exactly!   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** You watch Kung-fu movies?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** I used to watch them secretly with my cousin when we were very young   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Is Wulf also one of your brothers?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Yep!   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** which one is he?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** He’s second bro   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** But we don’t call him that   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Because it’s also slang for….   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** a guys ****   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** What number are you?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** I’m the fourth brother   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** But they don’t call me that either   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Because it also sounds like the dead brother   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** What about the oldest brother?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** We don’t call him that either   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** because he thinks we’re calling him fat   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Do you actually use the monikers?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Well, so third bro’s really called the asshole   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** But we couldn’t exactly call 3SIL Asshole SIL   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** It doesn’t abbreviate nicely   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Pfft   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** that’s very funny

“Oi, Naruto, have you seen Sasuke?” Chouji demanded, coming into the room with his eyes glued to his phone.

“No, what’s up?” Naruto glanced up from his screen, surprised.

“Are you playing? Is he online?” When Chouji looked up, he frowned at Naruto’s screen, “What the heck are you doing meditating? With your bloodline limit, your reserves are maxed out.”

“I’m just helping a friend out,” Naruto said evasively, then dragged Chouji back to his original topic, “What’s going on? Why are you looking for Sasuke?”

"He needs to see this. Look at this, on the Way of the Ninja forums. We gotta call him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huehuehue I'm drawing some red threads together! Or some black threads? I don't know, we'll have to see, hehe.
> 
> More plot and side pairing development! Also, for those who might've been curious about the whole 3rd sister-in-law appellation, Naruto explains it a bit here. It's a respect thing - I feel like Chinese doesn't have as many honorifics when it comes to outsiders besides using their title (Doctor, Teacher, etcetc), and the whole senior/junior thing, but within families, it's super complicated and you have to take into account where in the birth order you fall, and whether your married in or you're born in, whether you share a last name, blahblah, to find the right word. It's a real pain, and it doesn't translate super well into English, but I just had to get Sakura being called Sister in Law in, because I think it's cute. Fun fact, Sasuke is actually the third oldest of the four living in the dorm according to canon birthdays, and they call Xiao Nai in the drama "Third Bro" even though he's the youngest (I did a bit of a squee when I worked that one out in the planning stages). Anyways, side characters aside, our favourites are back next chapter... in person! I'm still rolling along quite nicely with ATSiD and the cast, but The Words I Want to Hear is slogging because of all the side characters I need to work with. So I'll be back again next week with ATSiD, but might still be a bit on TWIWTH. For anyone following along with drama (and HOLLA TO THE PERSON I INSPIRED TO WATCH ON YOUTUBE, MAD PROPS FOR DRAGGING IN YOUR SO, I'm legit so honoured), we're pretty well bridging the end of Episode 3 and into Episode 4. Thanks to Reglee for Betaing, and thank YOU for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, as always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and smoke signals on deserted beaches always make my day. Stay safe and stay healthy, guys, and see you soon!


	14. The Video

“What’s going on? Why are you looking for Sasuke?” Naruto asked.

"He needs to see this. Look at this, on the Way of the Ninja forums. We gotta call him.”

_About that…_

Sasuke really hated it when Itachi went to a conference and left him without food in the house. It meant he had to go buy dinner, because his cooking repertoire was limited, and Itachi had forgotten to get instant ramen in his last grocery run. _He left the car at the airport, too. Tch, I need to buy a car once I move out._ That left him with two choices for hot food quickly: the convenience store, for stuff he’d still have to make himself, or the school cafeteria, for a decent, warm meal that was included with his dorm fees.

So Sasuke found himself at the cafeteria, albeit without any of his roommates. Sasuke would never admit it to them, of course, but he … preferred to have them around. This time, though, because they were busy, he was on his own. _I forgot how lonely it was to eat alone in a crowd._

He ignored the looks and whispers that were starting to run through the cafeteria, very pointedly looking down at his phone as an excuse to avoid eye contact with anyone else. His ears perked up, though, when he heard a very familiar voice.

“Can I just wait for the chicken wings?” She asked. Sasuke raised his head and caught sight of a head of pink hair at the front of his line. _It is Sakura. What a coincidence._

“We’re totally out for tonight, Miss," The cold-faced man behind the counter told her impassively, "There was an issue with the supplier."

"Shannaro! Just my luck," Sakura sighed, resigned, "Fine, can I get a chicken burger with a side of fries and an iced tea? Actually, make that a side salad instead."

"Sure thing," the server nodded.

"Thank you," she responded, her usual cheeriness unusually forced. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke watched her collect an order, pay, and find a place to sit and pull out her laptop. As he reached the front of the line and before he knew exactly what he was doing, he’d ordered an Oyakodon bowl for here instead of for takeout as he’d originally planned and found a seat in the cafeteria as well.

_I guess I really don’t want this food to get cold…_

**(ﾉ_ヽ) (↼_↼)**

Sakura was trying real hard not to freak out.

From the stares her neighbours were giving her as she peered over the top of her laptop, she knew she was not doing a good job.

But!

But!

It was Uchiha-senpai! In the flesh! In the cafeteria!

 _This almost makes up for no chicken wings,_ Sakura giddily thought to herself. A sighting of Uchiha-senpai could blow all her gloomy worries out of her head for the moment.

He looked as good as ever, aloof in a crowd, like a masterpiece that just happened to come to life for a while. Uchiha-senpai always looked so cool and composed, even when nearly everyone in the cafeteria was whispering about him. Instead, he focused on his dinner with so much intensity that she envied his bowl. _I want him to look at me that intensely. Well, maybe not. I might turn into a puddle._ She nearly fanned herself as she caught sight of him rolling up his shirtsleeves, ready to eat. _Even his forearms are perfect. This guy’s unfair!_

Just before he picked up his chopsticks, though, for some weird reason, he suddenly looked up and met her eyes for one electric moment.

Sakura ducked. _Shannaro! I hope he doesn’t think I was staring!_ She hurriedly clicked something on her laptop to look busy. Way of the Ninja’s log-in screen popped onto her screen, right on top of where she was looking for new tutoring gigs. Sakura was about to close the window when she remembered that she’d left her two friends with Old Man and Wulf earlier, so she decided she might as well check in on them.

She saw Hinata’s name was still coloured in her friends list, while Tenten’s was grey, indicating the latter was offline. Sakura sent Hinata a quick message.

> **[Whisper to Tournesola] SakuraBlossom:** Hina-chan! Still playing?  
>  **[Whisper] Tournesola:** Yes, I’m improving my chakra capacity with Ramen-san  
>  **[Whisper to Tournesola] SakuraBlossom:** having fun?  
>  **[Whisper to Tournesola] SakuraBlossom:** how’s Tenten-chan?  
>  **[Whisper to Tournesola] SakuraBlossom:** Old Man and Wulf had better not have scared her off  
>  **[Whisper] Tournesola:** No, they were really good mentors!  
>  **[Whisper] Tournesola:** Tenten-chan went to go forge on her own for a while, and then she found her own mentor group.  
>  **[Whisper] Tournesola:** She was having so much fun, she forgot that she had a class this afternoon.  
>  **[Whisper to Tournesola] SakuraBlossom:** Oops lol  
>  **[Whisper to Tournesola] SakuraBlossom:** I’m glad you’re both enjoying yourselves then  
>  **[Whisper to Tournesola] SakuraBlossom:** I’m eating dinner now, I’ll be back later  
>  **[Whisper] Tournesola:** Okay, I won’t wait for you for then, Tenten-chan and I will just have a sandwich later or something

With that handled, Sakura was about to log off, since the cafeteria wi-fi was unreliable, when an unexpected message popped up.

> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** SakuraBlossom, can I ask you a question?

**(・・ ) ?**

Sai didn’t let his smile drop until the last interviewee walked out the main door, his colleagues bid him farewell to go get a long-overdue dinner, and he was finally - finally - alone in his office. Good thing he’d prepared a soup and sandwich from home, so he could cheerfully reject his coworkers’ invitation with the excuse that he already had dinner and he wanted to review his interview notes while it was all fresh in his mind.

As he took off his tie in front of the mirror in his office cabinet, the expressionless mask that he was so used to stared back at him. It felt good to finally relax. _Performing all day is exhausting_. Still, his warm and gentle persona had its uses.

Closing the closet door on his discarded tie and stolid reflection, he settled down to eat and review his notes. _Most of these interns are your average college kids with no experience or knowledge, but at least some of them were enthusiastic._ He stopped at one particular application and snorted, remembering the interview. _Who goes to an interview and doesn’t look up the company’s products?_ That one, he tossed directly in his reject pile.

_Still, I could probably just pull a random resume out of this pile and it’d be fine. At least there was one kid applying to QA with some chops. Hmm… what was her name again? Oh right, Higurashi. Well, Yamato and Nono probably won’t fight me on the QA intern if I give them first pick for the dev intern. They all looked like they’d be a pain to train, and I have first dibs on the full-time hires anyways._

Having made his choice, Sai turned his attention to the project management intern applications, pulling out one that he’d earmarked. _Oh right, I need to confirm this one. That would be an interesting hire. If it’s actually her… She’d be a good addition to the project._

He turned to his computer to log in to Way of the Ninja, when his phone beeped, showing an incoming text message.

> **From Darling:** Don’t forget to eat dinner! Also, I posted the video, so go support on the forum, kay? I love you, can’t wait to see you this weekend!

_She must have changed her nickname the last time she was going through my phone._ Sai texted back in the same vein.

> **To Darling:** I’m having a soup and sandwich at my desk. Will do. Love you too, see you soon.  
>  **From Darling:** You work too hard, honey. Don’t let it run over to the weekend - I want to go shopping, so rest well!

_Better remember to do this soon, or Ami will be on my case._ Sai thought. _What a pain._

Still, having a girlfriend was quite convenient for certain situation, and this time, she wasn’t asking for much. He made a quick detour to the forums, posted something sweet and sappy that he’d seen a famous actor say about the film that the actor was promoting, and then logged in to way. He was just going to send SakuraBlossom a quick mail asking her for a confirmation, when he saw her name in colour on his friend’s list. _It’s probably just faster if I message her._

> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** SakuraBlossom, can I ask you a question?  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Sure, what’s up?  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** something with the clan?  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** The clan’s fine  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Actually, we need a few more potions when you have some time, but no rush  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** It’s something else  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Did you interview with ROOT Corp today?

It was only after he’d sent the message and sat there for a few minutes waiting for her answer did he realize that the question might be a bit strange. Still, she was the one who gave her username.

> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Yes I did  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Interesting…  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Were you one of the interviewers?  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Yes  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Well that was an interesting way to meet up  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Haha

He wasn’t sure how to continue this conversation. He couldn’t very well say that he wanted to hire her until they made their final decision, and besides, this was his ex-wife, after all. Even if it had only been an in-game marriage, Ami wouldn’t like it if he spoke to her for too long. _Oh, speaking of Ami…_

> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Oh I forgot to tell you  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Ami and her friends are joining the clan this weekend  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** You don’t have a problem with that, do you?  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Of course not  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** Wife joining the husband’s clan is a very natural thing  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** I probably won’t be there to welcome them though  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Is school busy for you?  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:**?  
>  **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** FRIES YOU ASSHOLE  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** I didn’t think business students had that many projects  
>  **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Excuse me?  
>  **[Self] System:** Your last message could not be sent since the receiver went offline.

**凸(`△´＃)**

Sasuke was about to finish his dinner, when all of a sudden, a loud slam came from a certain corner of the cafeteria where his eyes kept wandering. This time, he wasn’t alone in turning his head to watch Sakura jump up, shove her stuff in her bag, and leave the cafeteria in a fury. _It’s kind of cute that she still remembered to put her tray away even as she stormed out._

Frowning, he also cleaned up his tray and prepared to leave, ready to go back to his room in Itachi’s apartment to log on and see if she’d tell him what happened, when a text he’d just received made him change his plans.

> **From The Idiot:** Oi, Asshole, come to the dorm. Someone’s making fun of 3SIL.

He didn’t exactly hurry there, per se, but before he knew it, he opened the door of his dorm, only to find his three roommates watching… something.

“Hey Sasuke, come here,” Chouji beckoned him.

“What’s up?” Sasuke asked, eyeing Naruto, who’d been the one who summoned him.

“It’s this video,” Naruto gestured at the screen with his chin, a truly angry expression on his face, “There’s a video contest going on on the forums right now, where you use the in-game recording functions to tell a love story.”

Sasuke came over to the desk, watching over Naruto’s back. Two avatars he didn’t recognize were surrounded by monsters in a dark forest knoll, one male and one female. Dialogue played out over their heads, so he read it rather unwillingly.

> **[Here] UWUAmixx:** We’re surrounded!

“No, really?” Kiba scoffed at the writing. Sasuke smirked a bit, but something about the male avatar caught his eye. It was the large paint brush… _Oh yes, Sakura’s EX-husband._

> **[Here] FriesWithThat:** Run, my love. I will sacrifice myself so you can live  
>  **[Here] FriesWithThat:** Live on, and be happy  
>  **[Here] FriesWithThat:** And… Love again  
>  **[Here] FriesWithThat:** Your light is too bright to die with me  
>  **[Here] UWUAmixx:** No!  
>  **[Here] UWUAmixx:** Don’t you dare to say that!  
>  **[Here] UWUAmixx:** Don’t you dare give up on me, my love  
>  **[Here] UWUAmixx:** We’ll make it out of here  
>  **[Here] UWUAmixx:** We have the power of love!

“That’s some polite monsters they’ve got there, waiting for them to be done with their dialogue like that,” Sasuke muttered. Kiba and Naruto snickered.

“Is that even a damage move? I think they’re using genjutsu,” Chouji squinted at the impressive explosions happening on the screen.

“They’re fighting a bunch of gremlins in the newbie area, they don’t need ninjutsu,” Kiba snorted, “How’s Sister-in-law involved then?”

“Just watch. It comes during the wedding,” Naruto said. They all watched as the twenty or so gremlins died quickly, and the two lovers embraced

> **[Here] UWUAmixx:** We did it! We’re safe!  
>  **[Here] FriesWithThat:** It’s all thanks to you, Ami  
>  **[Here] FriesWithThat:** Thank you for not giving up on me  
>  **[Here] FriesWithThat:** My life is yours  
>  **[Here] FriesWithThat:** Marry me Ami, so I can spend my life repaying you, and making you the happiest woman in the world  
>  **[Here] UWUAmixx:** Yes!!!

The video transitioned in slicing lines to cut to the wedding scene in front of Hikkiboshi and Orihime, with the two of them making their vows. Kiba leaned forward and squinted at the editing, “I think I used that transition on my junior high mixed media project.” Naruto and Chouji both laughed despite themselves.

Sasuke however, was focused on one of the figures in the crowd jumping up and down, angrily emoting. He recognized the skins on the equipment, but they had done a crude job in matching the dyes - _Sakura uses very basic skins for a player on the PVP scoreboard, but the dyes she uses are rare_. Obviously, whoever was imitating her didn’t appreciate the nuance or wasn’t willing to spend the gold for a crude caricature. His frown deepened as he read the dialogue.

> **[Here] SakuraBaka:** Nooooooooo!  
>  **[Here] SakuraBaka:** *****! *****! *****!  
>  **[Here] SakuraBaka:** Fries, how dare you marry her?!  
>  **[Here] SakuraBaka:** You can’t! I won’t allow you!  
>  **[Here] SakuraBaka:** You said you love ME!  
>  **[Here] SakuraBaka:** Don’t leave me!  
>  **[Here] SakuraBaka:** I’m so sad and lonely and weak without you!  
>  **[Here] FriesWithThat:** In this lifetime, I have never loved anyone as much as I love you  
>  **[Here] UWUAmixx:** In this lifetime, we will be an immortal pair, walking the way of the ninja together

Cheesy cute music came on as the two avatars stared woodenly at each other, but the character mocking Sakura was still jumping around like an idiot in the background, until two players OHKO-ed her, and the corpse fell offscreen. Only then did it cut to black, and credits started to scroll.

The four men were silent, no heckling remarks now. Kiba, Naruto, and Chouji all looked sidelong at Sasuke, who was still looking very coldly at the screen. Considering he always looked like a human iceberg though, they couldn’t tell if he was actually angry, or just contemplative. Judging by the way the temperature started dropping in the room, though, they were all pretty sure he was furious.

“So… What do you want to do about this, Sasuke?” Naruto was the first one to break the icy silence by offering a solution, “We could just hack the forum and take it down.”

“We gotta get some vengeance for Sister-in-Law,” Kiba argued, “How bout we hack that Fries’ account too? Delete their accounts so they can’t bother her anymore?”

“We should probably talk to her first. If anything happens, people will blame and harass her,” Chouji said as the voice of reason.

“Chouji’s right,” Sasuke finally spoke, just as Naruto and Kiba were going to continue arguing, “We can’t drag her into the dark on this. I have another idea. I’ll handle this the Ninja way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh I do love it when Sasuke gets angry, huehuehue.
> 
> Eye contact! Folks we have eye contact! I think this is the first time Sasuke and Sakura both realized they were in the same place at the same time. Also, with this chapters, all the players have finally been introduced. Also, I swear _this time_ I'll do Tumblr notes, lol. They'll have an explanation of exactly what I mean ;) Anyways, thanks Reglee for Beta-ing (in a hammock!) and thank you for stopping by this week! Happy Fourth of July weekend to all my American friends too. As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and wishes made on a thousand paper cranes are all welcome, and I hope to see you soon.


	15. The Art of War

_Crap, crap, crap!_ Tenten cursed to herself as she charged up the stairs of the History building with a notebook in one hand and a sandwich crammed into her mouth. _Sakura had better never find out that I was late to my class because I was meditating in Way. In my defense, though, I just added this elective to my load this week! Urgh, what a way to make a first impression. Good job, Higurashi._

Tenten skidded to a halt outside one of the smaller, more neglected lecture halls tucked into the corner of the building. _Is this even the right hall?_ After she confirmed that it was, she peered through the tiny window in the door and spotted one open seat in the back row, one seat over from the aisle, right beside a girl with long hair.

 _Score!_ Tenten cheered to herself as she slowly cracked open the door and snuck through to the back seat as inconspicuously as she could manage. Tenten surreptitiously waved to get the other girl’s attention so she could squeeze by to get into the last empty seat in the back, but when her would-be seatmate turned to her, annoyed at the interruption, she realized her mistake.

Her would-be seatmate was a guy. One that she recognized - unfortunately.

“Hyuuga-senpai,” She whispered, “Can I sit beside you?” _I can’t exactly climb over him..._

He glared icily at her and just said, “No.”

 _Asshole!_ Her impression of Hinata’s cousin worsened. She scowled when he turned back to watch the lecture and ignored her very existence. She was starting to get looks, standing awkwardly in the aisles like this, so she quickly scanned the lecture hall to find another seat. All the other empty seats were in the front row. _No way am I sitting in one of those, especially since I’m late!_

Looking behind the row, Tenten realized that, since the lecture theatre was a traditional descending amphitheatre shape, she could just squeeze into the tiny space behind Hinata’s asshole cousin and climb down into the seat, over the back of the chair. With that plan in mind, she started executing it, slipping behind the seats and swinging her leg up and over with her flawless ninja skills…

… so flawless that she whacked Hinata’s asshole cousin in the back of his head with her notebook. He turned violently and glared at her. She tried her best innocent smile.

 _Doesn’t look like it’s working. Oh well_. She ignored the dirty look Hinata’s cousin gave her and fell into her seat.

“SQUEAK”

Tenten froze. The entire lecture hall turned to look at her and the squeaky seat that shifted under her. She tried her best innocent smile again. She wasn’t sure if it worked, but the professor resumed his lecture anyways.

Trying not to even breathe very loudly, she slowly put her notebook on the desk and got ready to take at least some notes. As she reached into her back pocket to pull out the pen she’d stashed there in her rush to get out the door though, even with her tiny movement, her chair squeaked a little.

She froze again. Hinata’s asshole cousin looked over at her in disapproval.

_Well shit. My apologetic smile is getting a workout this class._

She bit the bullet and pulled out her pen as fast as she could, but the chair still let out a moderately loud protest. Obviously, the professor was used to lecturing in the hall because he just raised his voice a bit when she moved, but a couple of people in the class still turned to look back to her in disapproval.

 _I guess my abs are getting a workout this class…_ She gritted her teeth and started to take notes, but even the tiny shifts of her body as she repositioned her arm to get into a comfortable note-taking position still made some small noises.

“Do you mind keeping your movement to a minimum?” Hinata’s asshole cousin hissed at her.

“I would if I could,” Tenten whispered back with a forced grin.

_Squeak, squeak._

They continued arguing under their breaths.

“You should be taking notes. Why in the world are you shifting so much? You sound like you're going down the slide in a child's playground."

"I am trying to get comfortable!"

"Well, it's not working very well is it."

"Oh, shut up!"

"After you!"

"Mr. Hyuuga!" The professor finally interrupted their whisper-shout fight by glaring at Neji. "I expected better from you."

"My apologies, professor, I forgot my decorum," Hinata's cousin said stiffly.

"See that it doesn't happen again," The professor said before he turned his attention on Tenten, "As for you, Ms., I assume you're new to my section, because I warned everyone not to sit in that seat during the first class. Kindly cease moving or come sit in the front row."

"Uh, I'd prefer to stay here, thank you Professor," Tenten laughed nervously, "This seat is fine." As she said the last word, she surreptitiously put pressure on the flimsy piece of plywood whose shoddy construction started this whole thing and cracked it clean in half, kicking it behind her. She was now sitting on the bar supporting all the seats in the row.

“Try to keep it to a dull roar then,” The professor looked suspiciously at her but finally continued his lecture.

Tenten finally started taking notes on Medieval Casualty rates, a bit smug at her ingenious solution for the loud chair, but as she continued to try to take notes and pay attention to the lecture, a new problem arose.

 _The bolts are digging into my butt_.

She shifted for the nth time, trying to find a new angle that didn’t feel like she was sitting on a couple of marbles and leaned so far right that she accidentally ended up bumping into Hinata’s asshole cousin’s elbow.

“Oh for crying out loud, just sit still!” He hissed at her.

“I’m sorry, okay?” she whispered back, “Just let me-”

“You should’ve just sat in front,” he muttered discontentedly.

“No way! I’m perfectly fine here!” she lied, to both him and herself. _I really don’t want to sit in the front row. I can see his sweat patches from here._

He raised his eyebrows at her. “You’ve gone from sitting on a slide to sitting on a pair of monkey bars, and you think you can sit comfortably on them for the next two and a half hours?”

“Absolutely!” Tenten said confidently.

**(⌒ω⌒) (￣ ￣|||)**

**[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** Did you interview with ROOT Corp today?

“Shannaro!” Sakura stared blankly at her screen, the forkful of salad forgotten halfway to her mouth. The lovebirds sitting at the other end of her table stopped cooing and feeding each other mac and cheese to look weirdly at her. Sakura gave them an annoyed look right back. _If they can PDA in the middle of the cafeteria, I can exclaim whatever I want._

 _How in the world…?_ Her mind started whirling, reviewing every conversation she’d had at ROOT. She’d only said her username at ROOT in the bathroom - she hadn’t even been asked that question in the interview. They’d been alone in the bathroom, too. _Maybe someone who was passing in the hallway?_

 _Wait a minute_ , Sakura remembered what Hinata had said after her interview.

_“I-I think I a-accidentally used your m-main account, a-and I think Team Leader Shimura might have recognized it.”_

_Did that mean that FriesWithThat was that Team Leader Shimura?_ Sakura pondered, slightly disturbed. When they’d first gotten married, she’d guessed that Fries was probably a working member of society since they only ever played together on the weekends and evenings, but when he’d started occasionally logging in during the day, she’d dispelled the thought. _I guess I was wrong?_

Still, given that Hinata had given her username during the interview, she should probably admit to it. It’s not like she’d ever meet him in person again. She’d have to give Hinata a heads up, though, if Hinata did end up getting hired.

_Besides, he’s not going to hire someone based off an in-game friendship, is he?_

> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Yes I did   
> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** Interesting…   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Were you one of the interviewers?   
> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** Yes   
> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** Well that was an interesting way to meet up   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Haha

Sakura remembered Fries had awkwardly asked her to meet in person a couple of times when they’d been married in-game. She’d always made an excuse, partially for her own safety, and partially because she always worried that meeting her game friends in the real world would be like pulling off a curtain only to find a goat instead of the car she was promised. _Besides, Fries might be a very good model with excellent mileage, but I’m more a bike with a backseat kind of girl._

Sakura shook her head to dispel her weird train of thoughts. The point was, it was better that Fries remained a name in chat and an avatar on the screen.

> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Oh I forgot to tell you   
> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** Ami and her friends are joining the clan this weekend   
> **[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat:** You don’t have a problem with that, do you?

_It’s not like I could say yes, even if I did have a problem with them,_ Sakura rolled her eyes at him. He’d always been like this - arranging the rational thing and ignoring any irrational feelings. Luckily, it was just a game, though; otherwise Sakura might actually have had some choice words for Ami’s friends in real life.

> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Of course not   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Wife joining the husband’s clan is a very natural thing   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** I probably won’t be there to welcome them though   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Sakura you gotta go look at the Forums ASAP.   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** What's up?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Fries and Ami's video. Look at the last thirty seconds.

Puzzled, Sakura opened another window and found the post on the game forum for their server. She didn’t have to search very hard - it was already at the top of the page. A bad premonition rose in her gut. Even before she scrolled to the last couple of seconds, which took a bit with the cafeteria wifi, the mocking comments that had loaded made anger roil her stomach. That anger exploded when those last thirty seconds loaded, and she saw the caricature.

 _SHANNARO!_ Sakura saw _red._

> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:** Is school busy for you?   
> **[Whisper] FriesWithThat:**?   
> **[Whisper] SakuraBlossom:** FRIES YOU ASSHOLE

_Slam!_

**(ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ**

_I am absolutely not fine at all_. At the end of the three-hour lecture, as everyone stood to gather their books and leave, Tenten stayed absolutely rooted in her spot. She couldn’t move - her legs were numb, her butt was tingly, and she could feel the beginning of a world of pain looming when she finally levered herself off this damned bar.

Luckily, the person on the other end of the row had left relatively quickly, so everyone else in the row just left from that side, and Hinata’s asshole cousin was sitting by the aisle.

As he gathered his things to leave, though, she saw him hesitate and look at her.

And wait.

 _Just leave, so I can limp back to my dorms and nurse my shattered dignity in peace_. Tenten begged him silently. She gave him her best, bright “everything is absolutely okay so please leave me alone” smile.

It didn’t work.

_Why do my smiles never work on this guy?_

“You are in a lot of pain, right?” Neji said instead.

“No,” She squeaked. _That would’ve sounded so much more convincing if my voice cooperated with me._

“Come. I will help you back to your dormitory.”

Tenten stared at him suspiciously when he made the offer, “Why?”

“You are my cousin’s friend. I cannot just leave you here. Otherwise, you will not return to the dormitory until tomorrow, and she may call me to help her find you because she will be worried.”

“I thought you didn’t like your cousin?”

“How did you get that impression?”

 _Is his EQ really that low?_ Tenten goggled at him.

He shifted slightly under her stare, uncomfortable, then snapped, “Would you like my assistance or not?”

“Sure… but no funny business,” Tenten still didn’t trust the guy. _With his and Hinata’s relationship, I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t dump me on my ass on the opposite side of campus._

She was so immersed in planning how to get back at him if he dumped her in the wrong place that she was not prepared for him to shift his bag behind him, reach one arm behind her, and reach the other….

 _Where is that hand going?!_ Neji’s other arm went under her knees. Before she really managed to process this shock, he lifted her up in a perfect princess carry.

“HEY!” Tenten cried out in alarm as she got lifted up in the air. She gasped as every nerve in her legs cried out at once, making her involuntarily flail.

“Do not squirm so much,” He ordered, but it was too late. Somehow, her foot connected with his face.

_Oops._

**(￣▽￣*)ゞ**

_I can’t believe him! The NERVE!_ Sakura fumed as she stormed back to her dorm, still pissed off over Fries and Ami’s video with the crappy cameo from SakuraBaka. _Who even does that? What is this, freaking high school? Shannaro!_

Sakura didn’t notice that the other students seemed to give her a wide berth as she made her way through the residence’s courtyard. She did, however, notice Tenten being supported to the doors of her dorm by possibly the last person she would’ve expected.

“Tenten-chan, is everything okay?” Sakura hurried over to her roommate, casting a suspicious look at Hinata’s cousin. The look he gave her would’ve frozen a lava font. _The feeling’s mutual, buddy._

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Tenten tried to give her a reassuring smile but winced as she took another step.

“Since your roommate is here, I will leave you in her… capable hands. Goodbye,” Neji, who had a smudge of dirt on his cheek, unceremoniously released Tenten in Sakura’s direction, who caught her by reflex in a bit of an awkward position.

Tenten squeaked in surprise, her face on track to meet the pavement. Worried, Sakura caught the other girl in an impromptu princess carry before they fell over, making everyone around them stare. _Yeah, yeah, stare all you want at the crazy strong girl. Shannaro! People should just mind their own business._

Tenten didn’t show the slightest surprise at Sakura’s strength, though.

“Man, what kind of pheromones am I putting out today?” She grinned, greatly amused by the whole situation instead, “First Hyuuga-senpai, and now you. As much as I would like to stay in your arms Saku-chan, you better put me down. Even you can’t carry me up all those stairs.”

“Hyuuga-senpai?” Sakura echoed, confused, but she followed Tenten’s instructions and helped the other girl find her footing. She kept one arm around Tenten’s waist just in case.

“Long story, don’t ask.” Once they were steady, Tenten craned her neck like she was looking for someone, but Neji had already left. “I didn’t get to apologize or say thanks. Oh well.”

“What happened?” Sakura asked as she helped Tenten up the stairs slowly, “Was he bothering you?”

“No, I, uh, sat weirdly in class and lost all feeling in my legs, so he was helping me back to the dorm,” Tenten said, trying not to elaborate on the embarrassing bits.

“You what?!” Sakura stopped abruptly on one landing.

“I told you, it’s a long story,” Tenten waved it off, “What about you? You looked like you were ready to take chunks out of the next person who talked to you when you were coming over. What happened?”

“I’ve had the worst day.” Successfully distracted, Sakura started to rant as they slowly mounted each step to the third floor where their dorm was, “First the interview debacle, then tutoring, where Sasori was at his absolute worst. Then I found out he was the one who hacked the video camera on the convenience store and took pictures of me getting out of his great uncle’s car to imply that I had a sugar daddy on the school forum. But when I went to talk to his grandmother, she fired me! Can you believe that?!”

“What the heck? Wasn’t he the one who slandered you?” Tenten was startled.

“She didn’t want his precious reputation getting ruined, so she fired me and gave me a huge severance to keep my mouth shut,” Sakura scowled, “So now I gotta look for another tutoring job. I have some time, with the severance so that’s not the biggest issue though. The biggest issue is that now I have to explain to Tsunade-shishou why she’ll have to start looking for another student to tutor that demon.”

“She’ll understand - our dean isn’t an unreasonable person. Plus she must have sent dozens of students to tutor that demon over the years. The fact that you lasted a term and a month must be some kind of record,” Tenten reassured her.

“That’s true. But that’s not the end of it!” Sakura was all aboard the rant train now, “Then I went to the cafeteria for some comfort food, but the cafe was out of chicken wings!”

“Horror!” Tenten teased.

“And then, my in-game ex-husband and his new wife posted a video and made fun of me in it! The entire Way of the Ninja forum is probably mocking me.” She sighed, all her rage draining out to leave her a tired shell.

“Aw Saku-chan, that sucks,” Tenten patted her shoulder with the arm she’d slung around Sakura for support, “I hope you beat him bloody.”

“I kind of want to,” Sakura muttered, “but I’m really not in the mood to deal with this shit today. Shannaro!”

“C’mon, girl, where’s our favourite take-no-shit Haruno-san?”

“She took a nap and wants a hot cup of milk,” Sakura muttered as they finally reached their dorm and opened the door. As they went into the room, Sakura blinked in surprise when Hinata didn’t even look up. “Hinata-chan, are you still playing?”

Hinata jumped up from her computer when she saw Sakura supporting Tenten, who was still wincing with each step, “I-I finished a while ago - Ramen-san had to leave in a bit of a hurry. I’m just browsing the web. Tenten-chan, what h-happened to you?”

“Weird seat in class,” Tenten groaned as she limped towards their bed and fell face-first into Sakura’s lower bunk, “Don’t ask, I need to piece together my shattered dignity right now. Go help Sakura-chan get some revenge. Saku-chan, don’t you have a date night with your current hubby or something?”

Hinata and Sakura exchanged worried looks as Tenten fell face-first into the pillows on Sakura’s lower bunk, but at her reminder, Sakura jumped.

“That’s right, I promised Meister I’d do couple quests with him tonight!” Sakura cried. She pulled out her laptop and sat down at the large table in the middle of the dorm, but frowned as she loaded into the game.

“Wh-what’s wrong Sakura-chan?” Hinata asked, worried.

“Fries and Ami made fun of me in a video. You can find it on the forums,” Sakura explained briefly. The whole situation upset her more than she wanted to admit.

“O-Oh,” Hinata paused, “W-was it possibly a misunderstanding, by any chance?”

“No way,” Sakura shook her head, “It’s a pretty deliberate slight. The forums are already buzzing, and I fully expect some irritating people to make fun of me in game, as well. Urgh, what a mess.”

“M-Maybe he didn’t realize how much it would upset you. I-Is he a reasonable person? You could try talking to him,” Hinata rubbed her back.

“Maybe,” She sighed, “It’s worth a shot, anyways. I have no idea what else to do.” She clicked the log-on button and loaded into Way of the Ninja.

(>_>)

> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Hey Fries   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** I’m sorry about my outburst earlier   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Can we talk?   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** ?   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** I know you’re online, I can see your indicator in my friends menu   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Please   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** This is important   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** …   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Fine.   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** I’ll just leave you a message then   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** Can you please take down that video?   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** It’s insulting   
> **[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom:** And even if we’re not married in-game any more, I’m still your clanmate

At this point, Sakura paused as she tried to figure out what else she could say to persuade him to remove the childish video that was already garnering jeers and ridicule at her. Before she could come up with anything else, though, she got another message that made her pause.

> **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Oi, 3SIL where r u?   
> **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** You’re going to miss the duel   
> **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Haven’t you seen world?   
> **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Hurry up and come to the Arena

Sakura frowned. She’d gone straight to whisper chat to confront Fries when she logged in, so she hadn’t even looked at the world chat. As she made her way to the arena, she looked at the world channel, and what she saw would’ve made her spit her drink if she’d gotten the milk tea she wanted.

“Shannaro! He’s insane!”

“Wh-what is it, Sakura-chan?”

“Log on and look at world chat. Hurry up, Hinata-chan!”

As Hinata hurried to do as she was told, Sakura stared disbelievingly at World Chat. _I can’t believe him!_ She ignored the warm feeling spreading in her heart.

> **[World] System:** A world-wide challenge has been issued! Both participants are online!   
> **[World] System:** Sm1rkMeister has challenged FriesWithThat to duel   
> **[World] System:** FriesWithThat has not yet accepted the challenge!   
> **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** I can buy as many of these announcements as I want, Fries   
> **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** 2 fights, you only have to win one to settle this   
> **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** and I’ll even take off two pieces of armour   
> **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** Are you a coward?   
> **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** Or will you take up the challenge like a true Ninja?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehehehe Go Sasuke go!
> 
> Not going to lie, I made myself laugh several times while writing this chapter, including at the cameo of one of my favourite uni professors in this chapter. And yes, that is a teeeeensy tiny nod to _Strong Girl Bong-soon_ in there. Also, I'd forgotten how much fun Tenten is to write - I should throw together some NejiTen sketches sooner or later. Her characterization in this fic is actually pretty strongly influenced by _About a Daddy and Nanny_ (you can find it on FF.Net - oldie but a goodie). Thanks to Reglee for Betaing and for the OP irl Sakura idea, and thank YOU for reading! As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and hidden messages in undeveloped film all make my day. Stay safe, stay healthy, and see you soon!


	16. The Duel

> **[World] System:** A world-wide challenge has been issued! Both participants are online!  
>  **[World] System:** Sm1rkMeister has challenged FriesWithThat to duel  
>  **[World] System:** FriesWithThat has not yet accepted the challenge!  
>  **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** I can buy as many of these announcements as I want, Fries  
>  **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** 2 fights, you only have to win one to settle this  
>  **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** and I’ll even take off two pieces of armour  
>  **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** Are you a coward?  
>  **[World] Sm1rkMeister:** Or will you take up the challenge like a true Ninja?  
>  **[World] OldRamenMan:** C’mon, we all know he doesn’t dare face this asshole  
>  **[World] Robertthehobert:** Oof poor Fries  
>  **[World] Robertthehobert:** What’d he do to piss off a Server Best?  
>  **[World] SerNorth:** Have you not seen the video?  
>  **[World] SerNorth:** Man’s just standing up for his wife  
>  **[World] SerNorth:** Respect, Sm1rkMeister  
>  **[World] Nuxalia:** Fries is a Genjutsu main going up against THE Genjutsu main  
>  **[World] Nuxalia:** I don’t envy him  
>  **[World] CandyStr1per:** feelsbadman  
>  **[World] RollOutBoy:** He should’ve thought of that before he and his wife slandered our sister-in-law  
>  **[World] CandyStr1per:** It could have been Ami’s fault  
>  **[World] RollOutBoy:** He’s in the video, isn’t he?  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** 3SIL hurry up and buy a ticket to the Arena!  
>  **[Party] System:** OldRamenMan has invited you to join his party. Type Y to accept or N to refuse  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Y  
>  **[Party] System:** SakuraBlossom has joined the party!

As Sakura made her way towards the Arena in-game, she looked up when Hinata sat down across from her with her laptop. “Hina-chan, are you logging on too?”

“Y-Yes?” Hinata looked up surprised at her.

“I’m going to send you something - go to the Arena in the middle of the central city and click on the Lobby function,” Sakura said hurriedly as she snagged two arena tickets at the most expensive price. _There’s no way Hinata will have the gold to buy a ticket at the first tier, and they'll be sold out before the price reaches a tier she can afford._

“Wh-Why?” Hinata asked as she obeyed. She loaded into what looked like a coliseum, with a single, broken pillar standing in the middle. A black-haired, bare-chested male avatar was meditating against it. _Is that Sakura-chan’s hubby?_

“You see that world-wide challenge issued on world chat? This means it’s going to be a public duel in the Arena, with a forfeit on the line. Usually, the forfeit is someone loses a couple of levels,” Sakura explained as she loaded into the waiting area.

“That doesn’t seem like a big deal,” Tenten called from the bed where Sakura had left her. Her voice was muffled by Sakura’s pillow, “We went up like ten levels today.”

“Higher levels require exponentially more experience points. For someone like Meister or Fries, two levels could be a few months of work,” Sakura explained absently, then nearly did a spit-take, “Shannaro! What the hell is up with this win condition?”

“S-SmirkMeister must win both fights while missing two pieces of equipment, or he forfeits two levels. He must not use any recovery potions either. Th-The opponent is free to do whatever he wants,” Hinata murmured, reading the flavour text as her avatar navigated the arena, her eyebrows rising as well, “O-Oh my.”

“Even if he just leaves off a couple of accessories, that can make a big difference in stats,” Sakura muttered, getting even more worried. When she finally saw Meister’s avatar though, her jaw dropped, “Holy shit. He’s not wearing his chest armour or forehead protector.”

“Wh-What does that mean, Sakura-chan?” Hinata asked.

“Essentially, that he has no defensive stat boost. Chest armour provides a lot of physical defence, while forehead protectors boost ninjutsu defence,” Sakura responded, “He’s basically saying that he doesn’t think Fries will hit him at all.”

“Is your hubby trying to show how big his balls are?” Tenten asked, trying to maneuver herself so she could see one of their two screens from the bed. However, since she was lying on Sakura’s bottom bunk in the back right corner of the room, even if Tenten had managed to turn herself around so she was facing the central table, she was too low to comfortably watch Hinata’s screen.

Sakura threw an exasperated look over at her roommate sprawled out on her bed. _When did Tenten start calling Meister my hubby? God that sounds so cheesy._ “He’s basically trying to issue a challenge Fries can’t refuse. Fries isn’t that good a PVPer - he mostly plays group PVP support or PVE content-”

“PVP? PVE? In words we can understand, Sakura,” Tenten interrupted her.

“Fries doesn’t fight against people on his own that well - he’s used to supporting a group of players who cover him and fighting with people against AI,” Sakura reworded her thoughts, “And Meister’s a server best player, a former champion in the player versus player tournaments. So even though they’re at the same level, no one would think badly of Fries for turning down a normal best two out of three challenge. But if he turns down this challenge, where he only has to win one fight and Meister’s not wearing much defensive gear, the server will mock him for months about it. He has to accept.”

“A-and he’s doing this all because Fries and Ami made fun of you in a video?” Hinata smiled, “S-Sakura-chan, I think your husband really likes you.”

Sakura blushed, “Oh shut up. C’mon, the show’s starting. Party members have front row seats.”

“Dammit, this just had to happen while I can’t sit up!” Tenten complained, “you guys had better record it!”

> **[Party] Beowulf69:** About time, 3SIL!  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** We were worried you weren’t going to get a ticket  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Sorry about that!  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Hey, you brought Sola!  
>  **[Party] Tournesola:** Hello everyone, it’s nice to see you again  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Sola, this is our Big Bro  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** … oi  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** ??  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** IRL PVP again

“Sakura-chan, what does that mean?” Hinata remembered seeing that phrase before.

“In real life player versus player fight,” Sakura explained, already used to these antics.

“S-So they all know each other in real life?” Hinata asked, “And your h-husband does too?”

“I think so,” Sakura mused, “Although I’m not quite sure - sometimes it seems like he’s not playing in the same place as them.”

As they waited for RollOutBoy and Ramen Man to get back on their game, Sakura took a minute to center her game camera on Meister, getting a good look at his bare-chested avatar meditating against the central column. _I know it’s just a game avatar, but whew! I wonder if his real-life self has as nice of a chest_. _I kind of want to…_

“S-Sakura-chan? Is something wrong? Your face is a bit pink.”

“N-No! I’m not thinking about anything!” Sakura quickly disclaimed, “What’s up?”

“I-I think the opponent has arrived,” Hinata informed her.

Her face still slightly red, Sakura panned her camera to get a good look. Fries and Ami stood at the edge of the Arena, their avatars facing each other while they probably exchanged some words in private. Chat went wild.

> **[Arena] ForeverA1one:** Finally!  
>  **[Arena] ForeverA1one:** I thought the coward wouldn’t show up  
>  **[Arena] YugePen1s:** Fight fight fight fight  
>  **[Arena] Nuxalia:** This is going to be fun  
>  **[Arena] RondandRound:** Gogogogo  
>  **[Arena] TheMightyEbisu:** You can do this, Fries!

That last name in chat made Sakura scowl. _Ebisu, what the hell are you doing here publicly supporting Fries? Am I your War Leader or not? Dumbass’ll probably claim not to know what this is about_.

The shit-stirring from Ramen Man and Wulf that came after, though, made her grin.

> **[Arena] Beowulf69:** Oi, Ramen, you wanna make a bet?  
>  **[Arena] OldRamenMan:** No, we both know Sm1rk’s going to win this  
>  **[Arena] Beowulf69:** Not on the outcome  
>  **[Arena] Beowulf69:** On how long the first round’s going to take  
>  **[Arena] Beowulf69:** I think he’ll last three minutes  
>  **[Arena] RollOutBoy:** I give him two  
>  **[Arena] UWUKasumixx:** You guys are such ***holes  
>  **[Arena] UWUAmixx:** Let’s just make this a fair fight  
>  **[Arena] System:** Both participants have entered the Arena! Combatants, you have 30 seconds to prepare before the first round fight starts.

“W-why isn’t your husband moving?” Hinata asked, puzzled. When Fries entered the arena, Meister didn’t even get up from his meditating stance, “I-Isn’t that going to put him at a disadvantage later when Fries-san attacks?”

“Not necessarily,” Sakura mumbled as she watched Fries pull out a paintbrush and make a bunch of hand-seals, “Is he an idiot? Does he not know how the Sharingan works?”

“H-Huh?”

“Hina-chan, how’s your byakugan? Can you turn it on and let me know what you see?”

“S-Sure, but-” Hinata blinked when she saw what her bloodline limit revealed, “Th-There are two Meisters.”

“Where’s the other one?”

“O-On top of the column in the middle?”

Sakura grinned, “I knew it. Thanks, Hina-chan. You better turn it off before you get motion-sickness, though.”

 _Huh?_ Just as Hinata turned off her bloodline limit, and her screen returned to normal, the beep for the start of the duel sounded. Her camera control was taken over, and the view focused on the inside of the arena. The sidebars and mini-maps and skill bars and chat boxes melted away, the audience faded, and all she could do was watch.

When the start of the round sounded, Meister still hadn’t gotten up from meditating. Fries, on the other hand, was already on the move. He twirled his paintbrush, and giant ukiyo-e snakes erupted from his back, growing bigger and stronger as the ink spread over his skin. With the snakes as his vanguard, Fries launched himself forwards.

 _Why is Meister still meditating?_ Hinata wondered, more than a little worried. The camera followed Fries's perspective and rapidly closed the distance between the two combatants. Meister _still_ didn’t move. _Come on!_

 _Bam!_ A huge explosion blew up in the middle of the arena, right where Meister had been sitting this whole time. Inky snakes erupted from the epicentre, wrapped all around the central column in a wriggling mess, and trapped its target in Fries’s deadly embrace.

“I-Is Meister dead?” Hinata asked, “H-How is he going to escape from that?”

“He already has,” Sakura replied with a small smirk, “Just watch, Hinata-chan.”

In the arena, as the smoke from the explosion cleared, Hinata could barely make out a figure from between the coils of the snake-

 _Wait a minute. One figure?_ Before she could fully process the thought, a dark streak with an electric-blue tail fell like a comet from the top of the column. Unfortunately for him, Fries did not look up.

 _Wham!_ Meister landed squarely on Fries’s back, plunging that blue ball of lightning into his spine, right through his stomach. The flash of light made Hinata jump in her chair.

On the other hand, Sakura burst out laughing.

> **[Arena] System:** Sm1rkMeister has won against FriesWithThat in the first round of the Duel! When both participants are ready, the next round will begin.  
>  **[Arena] Robertthehobert:** What just happened…?  
>  **[Arena] OldRamenMan:** Wulf you owe me money  
>  **[Arena] OldRamenMan:** It was barely a minute  
>  **[Arena] Beowulf69:** Urgh, not worth the entry price  
>  **[Arena] YugePen1s:** PFT  
>  **[Arena] YugePen1s:** [Rolling Jade Seas Clan]’s Vice leader just got columnstomped  
>  **[Arena] YugePen1s:** N00BS  
>  **[Arena] YugePen1s:** lololololololol

“Wh-what was that!?” Hinata asked, bewildered

“A column-stomp. I still can’t believe he pulled that off,” Sakura managed to get out between her uncontrollable giggles. Tenten and Hinata both looked over at her, confused.

“Wh-what’s a column stomp? H-How did he get up there?” Hinata asked, “Sakura-chan! W-What’s so funny?”

“Sorry, sorry, Hina-chan!” Sakura wiped her tears of laughter and got herself under control, “It’s a common move used to troll total n00bs in the arena. The attacker leaves a shadow clone in the middle of the arena, lures the opponent to attack at close range, and then falls down from the column and kills the opponent basically just by falling on him. He’s just toying with Fries. I can’t believe he fell for that though.”

“I-I thought Fries was a good player?”

“Me too. Mostly it doesn’t work on more experienced players because the first thing you do in this arena is use a ranged attack to check if you’re fighting a clone, especially if your opponent is standing next to the column.” Sakura shook her head, thinking of her own clan’s reputation. “This is just embarrassing.”

> **[Arena] UWUAmixx:** Fries! Hang on I’m coming for you!  
>  **[Arena] UWUKasumixx:** WOW CHEAP TRICKS MUCH  
>  **[Arena] UWUKasumixx:** Hmph, so much for server best  
>  **[Arena] UWUFukixx:** Yeah, that was so not a fair fight!

Sakura snorted as she watched the Arena chat scroll by. _Just go up and heal him, you don’t need to announce it to everyone._ Fuki’s last comment made her grit her teeth in annoyance though. Just before she was about to enter the fray, the guys were already on it.

> **[Arena] Beowulf69:** You’re right, Fries has to win both fights with two missing pieces of armour and no potions in between, it’s definitely not a fair fight.  
>  **[Arena] Beowulf69:** Oh wait.  
>  **[Arena] Beowulf69:** Her boyfriend’s a n00b, get over it  
>  **[Arena] Beowulf69:** Ami should date a real man ;)

“W-Wulf-san is really…,” Hinata was at a loss for words.

“Yep…,” Sakura shook her head.

> **[Arena] UWUAmixx:** Fries, no matter what unfair odds or cheap tricks you might be up against, you will always be the hero of my heart  
>  **[Arena] ForeverA1one:** Yeah, how dare you!  
>  **[Arena] TeaSpiller:** totally lame  
>  **[Arena] Nuxalia:** Y’know, I don’t know about you guys  
>  **[Arena] Nuxalia:** but if you can create a solid shadow clone, stealth, climb up that column, cast a body fortification jutsu AND the chidori within about 35 seconds,  
>  **[Arena] Nuxalia:** I would call you server best too  
>  **[Arena] Nuxalia:** Like holy **** I’d like to see any of you charge and cast the chidori under 35 seconds  
>  **[Arena] Nuxalia:** That Sharingan casting speed is insane  
>  **[Arena] UWUAmixx:** Yeah, well, he’s using the insane bloodline limit to play cheap tricks!  
>  **[Arena] UWUAmixx:** Fries, we expected better of you as the server-best!  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** Ami, stop  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** You’re embarrassing me  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** Fries!  
>  **[Party] UWUAmixx:** I’m just trying to stand up for you!  
>  **[Party] FriesWithThat:** That’s enough  
>  **[Arena] Sm1rkMeister:** Fine  
>  **[Arena] Sm1rkMeister:** If that’s how you feel  
>  **[Arena] System:** Sm1rkMeister has added an additional condition to the fight!  
>  **[Arena] System:** In the second fight, Sm1rkMeister will not be able to use the bloodline limit known as the [Sharingan]  
>  **[Arena] System:** Sm1rkMeister has added an additional condition to the fight!  
>  **[Arena] System:** In the second fight, Sm1rkMeister will not use any armour  
>  **[Arena] Nuxalia:** Holy ****  
>  **[Arena] Robertthehobert:** What the ****?  
>  **[Arena] RondandRound:** Dude’s a maniac  
>  **[Arena] FriesWithThat:** That’s not necessary  
>  **[Arena] Sm1rkMeister:** I think it is

“SHANNARO!” Sakura exclaimed, reading the last announcement, “No way! There is no way! I can’t believe he’s going to fight without his armour!” Her eyes were glued to the screen as the pieces of armour vanished from Meister’s avatar.

“Your husband is going to fight in his tighty whiteys?” Tenten struggled to get up and watch again, “Dammit, why’d this have to happen when I can’t watch!?”

“I think he prefers boxers,” Hinata giggled.

“That’s just the base model,” Sakura muttered, her eyes glued to the muscular, nearly naked male avatar on her screen. _He does look very attractive… I still think they covered up the best part though… No! Down, girl! Focus._

> **[Arena] System:** Both participants are ready to fight! Combatants, you have 30 seconds to prepare before the first round fight starts.

Sakura, still doing her best not to be distracted by her almost naked husband in the arena, was startled by the beep for the start of the second round. Fries had obviously made good use of his prep time - as soon as the bell started, five large painted crows burst from his scroll, diving straight towards Meister like arrows of death.

“I guess Fries is just going for a one-hit knockout. At least he remembered to use a ranged attack this time,” Sakura murmured as she adjusted her camera to see what Meister’s response would be. Heck, she wanted to see what he’d spend the past 30 seconds on.

She found out a second later when Meister punched the ground and ducked under the painted carrion. An explosion shook her camera, and the ground underneath the two combatants spiderwebbed with thin cracks. Sakura squinted at her screen _. That’s what he spent the past 30 seconds on? That’s kind of lame._

Still, the move helped him dodge the flying birds’ wickedly sharp claws swooping down upon him. From down below, he grabbed one unfortunate bird by the legs and slammed it into the other four like an inky battering ram, then used the forward momentum to charge right towards Fries.

“Taijutsu? I-isn’t that a bad idea? H-He’s wearing no armour, so i-if Fries hits him at all...,” Hinata asked as she watched them brawl.

“Not necessarily,” Sakura replied Fist to block, palm to hand, kick to shin, she could tell Meister was just toying with his opponent when he slowly started speeding things up and Fries started missing some of his blocks. “Fries is a genjutsu main, so he invested most of his stats in hand speed and chakra control, which is good for genjutsus, but means he’s most vulnerable to being interrupted by fast moves like taijutsu.”

“I-Isn’t Meister a genjutsu main too?”

“People only think Meister’s a Genjutsu main because of the Sharingan, but he’s actually an all-rounder, which means he’s invested points into all his stats. It’s been a while since he’s played in the PVP tournaments, though. Fries must have forgotten that, because he doesn’t have the physical strength, stamina or the micro control to beat Meister in a drag-down fight like this. See, that last haymaker Fries threw. It’s sloppy, and it’s too big.”

When Meister dodged that huge windup punch, Fries lost his balance, falling forward. Taking the opening, Meister slammed his fist up in an uppercut, only to find that he’d hit a log that Fries had substituted in. Fries appeared about 10 feet away, safe and sound, but Meister darted forward and closed the gap again.

“H-He’s really fast,” Hinata observed, her eyes glued to the action. Fries barely had the chance to cast anything, throwing a couple of snakes that Meister sliced through with a katana that appeared in his hands. With another slash, Meister brought the butt of the katana sparking with blue energy down on his head, only to bash a log in half.

 _Another substitution jutsu._ Sakura frowned. _They didn’t work on him when we fought - I hope he’s okay without the Sharingan…_

Her worry was unnecessary, though. This time, Meister must have had his weapons skill bar open because he instantly fired off two flaming windmill shuriken as Fries reappeared. Taken off guard, Fries threw himself backwards in a backflip to avoid the two projectile missiles, trying to get further away from his opponent…

Unfortunately, he miscalculated his hand placement on the uneven terrain that Meister had cracked before. He stumbled and landed awkwardly.

He would’ve needed just a second to get back on his feet and relaunch his attack, but that moment was a second too long. Meister had already closed the gap between them and launched Fries into the air with a straight leg scissor kick.

 _Ouch_. As Fries’ limp body fell back towards the earth, Meister took the fully-charged katana and leapt up to meet him. With his upwards momentum and Fries’ downwards momentum, the katana drove through Fries’ spine as smooth as butter. For a coup de grace, the blue sparks on Meister’s blade erupted, electrocuting his opponent in a blinding light.

> **[Arena] System:** Sm1rkMeister has won against FriesWithThat in the second round of the Duel! Well fought, both participants.  
>  **[Arena] System:** Sm1rkMeister has fulfilled the win conditions of the fight. As a penalty, FriesWithThat will lose 2 levels.  
>  **[Arena] ForeverA1one:** well ****  
>  **[Arena] Watthewatthewat:** Holy ****  
>  **[Arena] Gamermama:** I thought he was supposed to be a genjutsu main?!  
>  **[Arena] CanonFodder69:** What the **** is he on?  
>  **[Arena] TeaSpiller:** That was insane  
>  **[Arena] Nuxalia:** Can someone share the recording afterwards? I didn’t manage to get one!  
>  **[Arena] SerNorth:** I’ll send it to you  
>  **[Arena] YugePen1s:** Me too!  
>  **[Arena] SerNorth:** Not you  
>  **[Arena] YugePen1s:** What the ****?  
>  **[Arena] Sm1rkMeister:** There’s one more condition you need to fulfill, Fries.  
>  **[Arena] FriesWithThat:** Fine  
>  **[Arena] FriesWithThat:** Take my lost levels as my sincere apologies  
>  **[Arena] FriesWithThat:** Ami and I will reshoot the last bit of our video  
>  **[Arena] FriesWithThat:** Do you want a public apology on the forums, too?  
>  **[Arena] Sm1rkMeister:** Sakura?  
>  **[Arena] SakuraBlossom:** Take down the video and that's enough  
>  **[Arena] FriesWithThat:** Good  
>  **[Arena] System:** FriesWithThat’s Party has left the Arena! With that, the fight is over and all players in the Arena will be returned to the lobby

“W-Wow!” Hinata breathed out and sat back in her seat, “Th-that was very cool.”

“Urghhh you guys have better recorded it for me!” Tenten complained from the bed.

Sakura and Hinata looked at each other blankly. _Shannaro! We both forgot!_ “Someone will post it online later - I’ll link you when we do.”

“Oh come on, Saku-chan!” Tenten complained, chucking a pillow at her head

Sakura tried to dodge but the pillow hit her squarely in the face. “I’m sorry, okay!” Sakura laughed. She grabbed the pillow again and was about to throw it back at Tenten when Hinata burst out laughing. Sakura and Tenten looked at her, bewildered.

“I-I think you should look at party chat, Sakura-chan,” Hinata said through her laughs.

> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Hey Sm1rk, did you mean it?  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** What were you going to do if you lost?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Pffft Our ***hole wasn’t going to lose against that kind of guy  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** No but like he could’ve had an unstable connection or something  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Were you really going to let it go if you lost?  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Absolutely  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** What the ****?  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** I only said I’d let the matter go  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** I never said anything about MDW  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** MDW?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** What’s that?  
>  **[Party] Tournesola:** Sakura-chan?  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Wait a minute…  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Who else would be my dear wife?

Sakura turned bright red.“SHANNARO!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sakura, don't fight it! Even your roommates know it. I love it when Sasuke is ridiculous with a straight face hehehe... 
> 
> You know, for a fluffy shipper modern AU fic, there are way more action scenes than I was ready to write, and I have unmercifully bitched about every single one to the r/fanfiction discord. Action scenes are not my forte, unless they are horizontal, on a bed, and consensual (usually pretty Vanilla). Thanks to writing buddies for their patience, and thank you Reglee for cleaning it up and doing your regular awesome Beta thing. As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and handwritten labels on Ben and Jerry's Icecream all make my day. Thank you for reading! Stay safe, stay healthy, and see you soon!


	17. Acknowledgement

> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Were you really going to let it go if you lost?  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Absolutely  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** What the ****?  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** I only said I’d let the matter go  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** I never said anything about MDW  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** MDW?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** What’s that?  
>  **[Party] Tournesola:** Sakura-chan?  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Wait a minute…  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Who else would be my dear wife?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** ayyyyy  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** you guys are so abusive to us single dogs :(  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** The video and forum posts are down  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** You should be good to go, 3SIL  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Boooooo, so fast  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Thank you all ^_^  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** That’s a relief  
>  **[Party] Tournesola:** Why do you sound so disappointed, Wulf-san?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Well if he didn’t move fast enough we could…  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Hack his computer?  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Seduce his woman!  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** ....  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** …  
>  **[Party] SmirkMeister:** …  
>  **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh, so you study computer science?  
>  **[Party] Tournesola:** What a coincidence! We do too

“Hina-chan,” Sakura groaned. She wished she’d stopped Hinata before she said anything, but it was too late now.

“H-Huh?” Hinata looked at her. “A-aren’t they your friends?”

“Yeah, but….,” Sakura struggled to explain it, “I just want to keep a boundary between my online life and my real life. Just in case.”

“O-Oh,” Hinata pondered. She wasn’t sure what exactly that meant, but she made a note of Sakura’s feelings for future reference.

> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Yep, we’re graduating this year  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** That’s cool!  
>  **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Maybe then you’re our junior sisters then  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Given the odds in CS, you’re probably our junior brothers  
>  **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Haha :)  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** We should go do a mission, Sakura.  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** The tournament’s coming up soon

“C-couples’ mission? Tournament?” Hinata looked up at her, puzzled.

“Meister and I are going to participate in a couples PVP tournament in a few months, so we’ve been trying to level up our intimacy level with these special hidden missions. They have romantic themes and everything. At max intimacy, we get a pretty hefty stat boost fighting together, but we only got married a week ago in-game, so we’re pretty far behind our opponents.”

“So he’s not your real online secret boyfriend that you were hiding from your real online fake husband?” Tenten looked a bit disappointed, “But he’s so sweet to you!”

Sakura looked at her weirdly, “You watch way too many soap operas. No, he just approached me one day. But we’ve been spending a lot of time together, and we get along pretty well.”

“Does that mean Uchiha-senpai’s place in your heart has wavered?” Tenten teased her.

“Oh, be quiet!” Sakura blushed, feeling unusually shy. She turned back to the game to avoid Tenten’s knowing gaze.

> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Psh, I bet 3SIL does most of the work when you guys do couples missions  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Sm1rk’s definitely a …  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** Do you still call the guy a sugar baby?  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister** : Let’s go, Sakura  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister** : Leave the sour people jealous of my sweet ride behind  
>  **[Party] Sm1rkMeister** : They’re bad influences  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** ***hole  
>  **[Party] Beowulf69:** rub it in, why don’t you  
>  **[Party] RollOutBoy:** You’re definitely the worst influence

“W-Wow, I thought that only happened in TV-dramas,” Hinata giggled, watching her screen.

“What’s happening?” Tenten demanded as she tried to get up, then hissed in pain.

“Sakura’s hubby is dragging her away by the wrist,” Hinata explained for her benefit.

“I didn’t even know that was a couple emote,” Sakura said, oddly embarrassed. Her character was even auto-following Meister. However, she could tell from her status bar that she could easily break free, and he could only do this once every half hour.

Hinata was about to log off when a message popped on her chat bar

> **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Are you going to keep playing, Sola-chan?  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Wanna do another mentor mission?

Hinata hesitated over her answer. She really should go get something to eat, but...

“Do you have any painkillers, Hina-chan?” Tenten asked her, “Or do we have an ice-pack in the fridge?”

“N-No, Temari-chan took the last one when she had her period,” Hinata apologized.

“Do you mind getting me an ice-pack and some more drugs when you go for dinner?” Tenten asked, “Sorry, but my butt is killing me.”

Hinata shot her screen one regretful look before she smiled at Tenten, “S-Sure, no problem. I’ll be back soon. J-Just let me log off.”

> **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] Tournesola:** I would really like to, but I need to go eat my dinner and grab some painkillers for my roommate  
>  **[Whisper to OldRamenMan] Tournesola:** Is next week still a convenient time?  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Oh shoot, I gotta do that too  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Dinner, not painkillers :P  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** ****, I’m out of my ramen stash  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** But yeah, next week’s good!  
>  **[Whisper] OldRamenMan:** Seeya then  
>  **[Whisper] Tournesola:** Goodbye

As Hinata closed her laptop and took her purse to leave, Sakura found that Meister had led her to the side of the mountain, looking down on a sunny bucolic scene of a giant herd of cows scattered all over the green, rolling hills as far as her camera could pan.

Sakura gulped. _That’s a lot of cows._ She scanned the area to look for the item to trigger the mission, but couldn’t find it no matter how hard she looked. Sakura frowned. _That’s odd. Normally it’s interactable._ Just as she was about to suggest to Meister that they might be in the wrong place, he picked up a whip lying by the edge of the field, and the mission triggered.

> **[Couple] System:** Looks like the cowherd left his charges alone for a while. Take this [Cowherd’s Whip] and round up the cows before he gets in trouble for sneaking away to spend some time with his lover.  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** That’s weird, I couldn’t see it  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** You can afk for a while  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I’ll handle this one  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Are you sure?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Or are you thinking too much about the guys calling you a sugar baby?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** There’s a genjutsu element to this mission  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** It makes more sense for me to do it  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** You’ve had a long day  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Thanks then, I will  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I need to check up on my roommate, she’s not feeling well  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I’ll be back soon, just ping me if you need something.  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Okay

“Tenten-chan, do you want to use some of my sprain spray?” Sakura asked, getting up from her computer.

“The one that smells like a weird herbal voodoo shop?” Tenten side-eyed her, “I’m not getting off your bed right now.”

“Fine,” Sakura rolled her eyes at her, “I’ll put a towel under you. Take your pants off.”

“Pffft,” Tenten snickered, “You say that to me now, but we both know you wish you could say that to your husband right now.”

“Shut up!”

**(≧▽≦)(눈_눈)**

> **From 3rd Bro:** Can you get me some cold medication? I just sneezed  
>  **To 3rd Bro:** You sure it wasn’t someone thinking about you?  
>  **From 3rd Bro:** Just get me the medication, idiot  
>  **To 3rd Bro:** fine but you owe me

_Of course that asshole texts me after we’ve already bought our stuff at the convenience store._ Naruto put his phone back in his pocket and called out to Kiba and Chouji, “Hey guys, I gotta go back into the convenience store. You guys go ahead.”

“More Ramen, Naruto?” Chouji eyed him disapprovingly, “There isn’t going to be any left for other people.”

Naruto waved a laughing Kiba and Chouji off with his middle finger, then turned on his heel and headed back towards the only late-night convenience store open on campus. Whistling as he walked, he absent-mindedly swung the huge bag of emergency ramen that he’d just bought to replenish his much-depleted supply.

Naruto’s mind wandered as he retraced the familiar path back to the convenience store. Sasuke had been furious during that duel. Column-stomping in the first fight, then a taijutsu takedown without his armour in the second? _Brutal_. Even if that bastard was cold, rude and indecipherable to the rest of the world, Naruto _knew_ Sasuke, almost as well as Itachi did. He’d never seen him that mad. And he was practically glacial towards women. _What was it about this one? I wonder what makes her special…_

Granted, Naruto didn’t think he’d be very polite either if it’d been his girlfriend in the same position as SakuraBlossom, but as much as they joked around and called her their sister-in-law, she wasn’t Sasuke’s actual girlfriend or significant other, just a duel partner. _Come to think of it, it’s kind of weird Sasuke let us keep going with the joke…_

Naruto stopped abruptly when he realized something: they didn’t even know if SakuraBlossom was a girl!

Bam! Someone crashed into Naruto, sending him sprawling. He was more upset about the fact that he’d dropped his emergency ramen refill, and it rolled all over the place. _Dammit, that’s what I get for thinking too deeply about that asshole’s love life._

“Crap!” Naruto swore loudly, rubbing the spot where he landed. He looked up, and the scolding he was about to give the person who crashed into him died before he could open his mouth. The person who’d crashed into him was a pretty girl with long hair and tiny tears forming in the corner of her pale eyes. That instantly made him feel guilty, since he was the one who stopped abruptly, so he apologized awkwardly, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have stopped like that. Are you okay?”

“I-I’m f-fine. I-I’m sorry, a-as well,” she stuttered.

“No, no,” Naruto mumbled, a bit self-conscious as he started shoving his stash back into the dropped bag, “Let me just get my ramen out of your way, ”

“A-Ah, please wait,” The girl protested, “I-I dropped my ramen cup as well.”

At that, Naruto paused, a bit baffled. He was embarrassed to admit that he didn’t really know what flavours or even exactly how many cups he’d bought - he’d just swept all his favourite flavours into his cart and paid for it without checking the total.

“Which one is yours?” Naruto was forced to ask.

The girl paused before she responded, “Th-the shrimp one over there.”

“Ah, that’s one of my favourites!” Naruto enthused, trying to defuse the awkwardness, “I especially like the chunks of freeze-dried whole shrimp in there - it’s kind of like magic when they swell up again.”

“I-It’s not my favourite,” she admitted, “B-But everything else I like was out of stock, s-so it was my next best option.”

 _Oops._ Naruto wanted to wince. _He’d_ been the one to clean out the campus convenience store.

“Why don’t I swap you one then?” he offered.

“O-Oh, you don’t have to if it’s too troublesome,” she refused, flustered.

“It’s okay! I like shrimp! It’s the least I can do since I knocked you over in the first place, anyways.”

She looked like she was going to refuse again, so Naruto just put all the shrimp ramen into his bag and grabbed a different flavour. “Do you like pork better?”

“Y-Yes, but-,” She tried to refuse, but she was too slow and he shoved it into her hands.

“Great! Take it as an apology then. I gotta go!” Naruto finished grabbing his stuff and left before she could refuse again.

Dizzy from the speed the stranger with spiky blond hair did things, Hinata didn’t get another word out as he jogged away, fast as the wind. She could only bemusedly stare after him, hair tousled by the fall, her favourite tonkatsu ramen clutched in her hand. She felt like she’d just been hit by a hurricane.

_Wh-who was that?_

**(・・ ) ? ε=ε=ε=ε=┌(;￣▽￣)┘**

When Hinata returned with her dinner and the painkillers, Tenten and Sakura were bickering back and forth. Hinata smiled as she put her coat away in her closet near the door. Filtering their loud voices out, she quickly dipped into the bathroom at the front of the room to grab a glass of water for Tenten to take with her medicine and turned on the electric kettle for the ramen.

“Oh come on, Sakura-chan!” Tenten complained, “I know you’re strong enough to lift me up to my bunk, so why are you leaving me down here? Please, please, pleeeease?”

“I told you, I’m not going to risk jostling you unless you have to be moved,” Sakura shot back. She looked up at Hinata, who was making her way towards them diagonally across the room, to the back right corner of their dorm room where Sakura and Tenten’s bunk bed was. “Oh thank everything that you’re back, Hina-chan. Please tell me you bought the painkillers that will put her to sleep.”

“I just want to rest in my own bed!” Tenten protested.

“S-Since you’re injured, you should probably switch bunks with Sakura-chan tonight,” Hinata disagreed as she handed Tenten the pills and water.

“Not you, too,” Tenten complained.

“I promise I won’t stick my hands down the side of your bed and find your diary, okay?” Sakura rolled her eyes at her.

Tenten gasped, “How did you know?!”

Sakura gave her a significant look to get her to look up, “I can see it between the slats when I’m lying down. Come on, Tenten-chan, give it up for tonight.”

“Fine,” Tenten grumbled as she took the pill, “But you promised!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sakura said as she watched Tenten take her medication, make herself comfortable on her stomach and on Sakura’s favourite pillow, and finally, finally close her eyes to sleep early.

“I-I’ll borrow her desk and keep an eye on her,” Hinata told Sakura in a low whisper as she dimmed the lights. She eyed Tenten’s single desk, which was the desk near the head of Sakura’s bed against the back wall, separated from her own desk by the patio door. It was covered in papers and debris, which, considering Hinata and Sakura were both pretty neat, and Temari wasn’t home most nights including tonight, made Tenten’s desk the odd one out. Hinata still found a place for her laptop and her noodles, so she settled down to eat her dinner and watch some videos.

Sakura glanced around the room, thinking about where she would sit. Since Tenten was sleeping with her head at the foot of the bed, near Sakura’s desk against the rightmost wall, Sakura decided she’d just stick with where she’d been sitting at the large central table and turn on Temari’s desk lamp for illumination, as her desk was on the leftmost wall. Decision made, she finally settled back in to keep playing.

Just as she was about to let Meister know that she was back though, the system chimed the sound that told players a mission had been completed.

> **[Couple] System:** Congratulations! All the cows are back where they should be, and the cowherd’s supervisors are none the wiser. You have completed the **[Cover for the Cowherd’s Romantic Rendezvous]** Couple mission!  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Back!  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** You worked hard ^_^  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Thank you  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Is your roommate okay?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** She’ll be fine with some rest  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** That’s good

They’d been doing couples missions together for long enough that she was comfortable being alone with him. Still, after that duel, she knew she had to say something to him about it. She just wasn’t sure _what_.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** About the fight earlier…. Thank you  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I think that’s the first time anyone who wasn’t my family stood up for me like that  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** And it was a really good couple of fights :P  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** You’re welcome  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** and of course they were

Sakura snorted. She then asked him the question that had nagged her since his second fight.

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** For the second fight  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** What did you spend your 30 seconds on?

Sakura didn’t think it’d take as long as it did for Meister to respond. She tapped her fingers impatiently against her keys.

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Punching the ground  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I was trying to get an uneven terrain  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Like you did when we pvped

_Ohhh. I’m so used to seeing that technique when I do it that I didn’t realize.._. Given that he was an allrounder and didn’t have her chakra control, the fact that Meister had gotten cracks at all was not bad. _Wait a minute. Was he trying to use my techniques in that fight? No way…_ She smiled a bit, pleased at the thought. Even if she hadn’t been the one to punch Fries, this was the next best thing.

At this point, Sakura should have just said goodnight and logged off, since it was getting pretty late, but she wanted to confirm her suspicion. She hesitated, not sure how to broach the topic, but before she could say anything, Meister beat her to it.

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I’m sorry  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** For what?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** The duel earlier  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ?  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I appreciate you standing up for me though  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** You’re my wife, that’s what I should do

Sakura turned bright red at that again. _Shannaro! It’s one thing when he’s just playing for the party, but it’s just us now. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone else._

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** But your clan is getting quite a bit of blowback from the fight  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I didn’t consider that possibility  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** It’s fine, I’ll deal with it  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Still, I’m sorry if it puts you in an awkward position  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** It was spreading too quickly and I needed to act fast  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** and I...  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ...?  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I lost my temper  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Honestly, I didn’t really have any ideas either  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Next time, I’ll discuss the plan with you first and let you make a call  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Let’s hope there’s no next time :P  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I appreciate the thought, though  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Thank you  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** yw  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I should go  
>  **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Good night  
>  **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Good night! Sleep tight ^_^

An unfamiliar warm and fuzzy feeling tickled her heart. She hadn’t felt this when Meister had put on a lavish wedding for them, or while he was fighting for her honour, or when anyone had ever confessed to her, but when he was considerate of her feelings and her relationships...

_Slam!_

Sakura knew she’d closed her laptop too loudly in her confusion when Hinata turned around and looked at her oddly, “S-Sakura-chan?”

“What’s up, Hina-chan?” Sakura responded absent-mindedly.

“Wh-why are you smiling and blushing like that?”

**( 〃▽〃) (・・ ) ?**

“Hey,” A week later, Temari hissed at both Tenten and Hinata as the three of them sat at the big central table of their room. “Is it just me, or is Sakura-chan kind of distracted these days?”

“What do you mean?” Tenten asked, looking up from her game. Hinata looked up as well.

“Just look at that!” Temari cocked her chin at Sakura, who was sitting by herself at her own desk against the right side of the room, her back to them.

They all peered over at the person in question, turning their heads sideways like a bunch of art critics trying to see if a painting was upside down. As conspicuous as they were gawking at her, Sakura didn’t even notice. She was engrossed in doodling something in that little red notebook she used for her gaming notes.

“Y-You’re right,” Hinata murmured. Her neck was starting to ache in this position.

“Why are we still leaning like this?” Temari muttered.

“To see how long it’ll take her to notice us,” Tenten responded in a low whisper. Tenten was leaning so far over, she actually fell out of her chair with a huge thud, causing Temari and Hinata both to jump. Sakura _still_ didn’t look up.

“Sh-She must be really engrossed in whatever she’s working on in her notebook,” Hinata observed.

“Sakura-chan’s always focused, but this feels… different,” Temari couldn’t put her finger on it, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was in love. But she hasn’t said a word about Uchiha-senpai for a few days.”

Tenten and Hinata both stared at her, then both of them broke out in grins. “You’re absolutely right, Temari-chan,” Tenten grinned evilly, “She hasn’t said a word about Uchiha-senpai since her hubby fought for her honour last week.”

“What?!” Temari’s voice rose a couple of octaves. Tenten hushed her, but when they all turned around to see if Sakura had noticed them, she still hadn’t looked up. With a collective sigh of relief, they turned back to fill Temari in on Sakura’s virtual husband.

“S-Some people were making fun of Sakura on the forums, so her in-game husband embarrassed them in a fight and made them take it down.” Hinata explained, “W-Wulf-san sent me a recording of the duel.”

“Finally! Show me, show me!” Tenten jumped up and shuffled her chair closer to Hinata’s.

Temari also joined in watching the video that Hinata brought up on her screen, not that she really understood what was going on. All she saw were some explosions and a nearly-naked man. She raised an eyebrow, “And you’re telling me Sakura-chan’s game husband is the nearly naked one? Is he a pervert or just an exhibitionist?”

“T-Temari-chan!” Hinata exclaimed, surprised, “M-Meister-san is a very nice person, if a bit quiet. H-He treats Sakura-chan very well, a-and his friends have been very good to us.”

“If you say so,” Temari muttered doubtfully, “I still don’t see what she sees in him from this fight.”

“Saku-chan has good eyes - Meister’s a really good player,” Tenten nodded approvingly, “He not only won, but he embarrassed the heck out of Fries. He’d have been dead meat without his armour if Fries had landed a hit, but now I can see why Fries has been such a laughingstock on the server in the past week. I approve of their relationship!”

“Approve of what relationship?” Temari scoffed.

“W-We shouldn’t jump to any conclusions,” Hinata hurriedly interceded, “S-Sakura-chan could just be busy with her classwork and internship applications.”

“Are you kidding me? She basically just eats, sleeps, does her school stuff, and games. She’s even got the two of you playing,” Temari complained. “Sakura-chan’s always been a gamer, but now she’s practically a basement-dweller, mould and all! I couldn’t even drag her out shopping last weekend.”

“Th-They are preparing for a big tournament,” Hinata rebutted weakly. Temari scoffed in disbelief.

“Look guys, we’re thinking too much about this. Let’s just… get her attention and ask her,” Tenten suggested, wiggling her fingers suggestively.

Temari rolled her eyes at Tenten’s antics, but she couldn’t help smiling as she watched Tenten sneak up on the still engrossed Sakura. Hinata only understood what Tenten intended to do when Tenten actually executed on her dastardly plan.

“AHHHHH!” Sakura shrieked as Tenten tickled her unmercifully, finally looking up from her notebook. “SHANNARO! Tenten! St-Stop please!”

Just like that, Tenten ceased her torment, grinning at Sakura’s bright red face. “Finally got your attention. Whatcha working on?”

Sakura quickly shut her little red book and swatted her with it, “None of your business. What did you want my attention for?”

“We have a very important question to ask you,” Tenten said mock-seriously, making Sakura roll her eyes at her antics, “Are you… in love with Meister?”

“Shannaro! What the heck?” Sakura did a double take at the question, her face turning a lovely rosy hue again. “No! Of course not! I haven’t even met the guy! You can’t just fall in love with someone over the internet.”

“B-But would you? M-meet him, I mean,” Hinata followed up, moving towards them to join in on the conversation.

“I… I don’t like mixing my real life with my online life,” Sakura said hesitantly, “He’s a really nice guy and I like playing with him and all, but…”

Hinata and Tenten glanced at each other. By the quirk in Tenten’s lips, Hinata could tell that they’d noticed the same thing: Sakura was hedging. A week ago, Sakura had been upset that someone just knew what they studied and now… now she looked like she was considering meeting Meister. To avoid Sakura catching their significant glances, Tenten wandered towards their balcony to look down at the students passing by their dorm building.

“What kind of guy do you like, Sakura-chan?” Temari asked, taking a seat at the foot of Sakura’s bunk nearest to her desk, “Uchiha-senpai?”

Sakura waved her off, “He’s just eye candy. Fantasy fuel. I barely know what his personality is like.”

“Wh-What kind of personality do you like, then?” Hinata persisted.

Sakura thought hard about it for a minute, then answered, “Someone who understands me and respects me. Where we can talk about anything, but also just hang out together. Someone who makes me laugh and can make me think as well. Someone who’s protective but not overbearing. Someone who’s considerate. Someone like…” _Someone like Meister._

“Like?” Temari prompted her.

Sakura didn’t answer. Temari and Hinata stared hard at her, but she just couldn’t say it. _Saying it outloud makes it real._

“Sakura-chan!” Tenten broke the tension from the balcony when she stuck her head back into the dorm room. Her eyes were shining with some unholy mischief, “I spy your eye candy!”

“Where?” Sakura got up and went to the balcony as well, more to escape Temari and Hinata’s questioning stares than to see Uchiha-senpai. Tenten made space for her against the railings, gesturing to one imposing figure below them. She could see the flow of traffic split apart in front of him and bunch around behind him, as people turned with their phones or gawked to try and get a glimpse of the campus celebrity. Tenten, who enjoyed rubbernecking more than she enjoyed looking at beautiful people, noticed that they weren’t the only ones out on their balcony.

Sakura sighed with a goofy smile as she caught sight of Uchiha-senpai’s beautiful, austere features. _I’m so glad it’s not illegal for a person to look that good_. _Ooh, he’s wearing a suit today. Be still my beating heart!_ Despite the stares, Uchiha-senpai kept walking forward with all the leisurely grace of a panther, and she enjoyed every step.

“Sakura-chan,” Tenten nudged her.

“Huh?” Sakura looked up at her fuzzily.

“You’re drooling,” Tenten grinned.

Sakura absent-mindedly wiped her mouth, then realized that Tenten was making fun of her when her hand came back dry and Tenten burst out laughing. Blushing, Sakura nudged her in revenge, toppling her over while she was still laughing.

“What’s that girl doing?” Temari asked. She and Hinata had joined them on the balcony when Sakura shoved Tenten. She pointed her chin down at one girl who stood in Uchiha-senpai’s path with her arms outstretched and her head down. She had a letter clutched in her hands, and even from here, Sakura could see that her hands were trembling and her cheeks were red.

“I-Is she confessing to him?” Hinata peered over as well.

“She is! I can see the little red heart on the letter. Oof, she’s going to make some people unhappy, going after everyone’s Uchiha-senpai like that,” Tenten grinned, enjoying the show.

Sakura watched as Uchiha-senpai got closer and closer to the girl, her heart in her throat. She couldn’t help but admire this girl’s bravery, because she would never have that kind of courage, but at the same time... _Is he going to accept it? Is he going to become someone else’s boyfriend? Am I going to lose my eye candy?_

Uchiha-senpai walked closer, now just a few feet away from the girl. Sakura held her breath in anticipation, wondering if she would be watching the beginning of a beautiful new relationship, if he would read the letter and respond, or put it away without reading it, or reject it, or…

Uchiha-senpai did none of these things.

He walked right around her like she wasn’t even there.

And then he just kept walking down the block, like an immortal who was above such worldly concerns, until he turned a corner towards the teacher’s residences and disappeared. The whole area went entirely silent as all the watchers cringed for the girl who was still looking down and holding her letter out.

Sensing something was off, the girl who’d tried to confess with a letter slowly raised her head and looked around. The letter crumpled in her hands when she realized that the object of her affections hadn’t even bothered to stop. Humiliated, she turned an even darker shade of red as she realized the crowd was watching her and fled back into the dorm.

The four roommates watching from the patio all had a moment of silence as Tenten, Hinata and Temari all glanced at Sakura, wondering how she’d been affected by the scene. Sakura was just standing there in a bit of a daze, looking down at the street where the attempted confession had played out.

Worriedly, Hinata put a hand on her arm. “Sakura-chan, are you okay?”

“I’ve thought of one more criteria,” she replied.

“For the guy you’d fall for?” Temari asked, a bit surprised by the non-sequitur.

Sakura nodded decisively.

“He has to acknowledge I exist.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who d'you think you're kidding, Sakura, Honey we can see right through you :)
> 
> So this chapter is for the person who said "If this fic burns any slower It’ll start going in reverse", hehehe I was actually rereading the webnovel translation (On Dreams of Jianghu's site!) and was reminded of the nuance, that this is when Weiwei starts falling for Xiao Nai. *sighs* they're such a good couple. Also, since this chapter was a biiit late since it was two originally planned chapters stuck together, and quite frankly I'm annoyed with people telling me to make them interact more offline (I have a plan, people! It's laid out, it's meticulous, and it ain't changing! I even have a spreadsheet!), I'm going to start a countdown: 25. To what I'm counting down to... :) Finally, if any of you are wondering about why I didn't use "Tsuma" as the nickname Sasuke calls Sakura in-game and came up with "My Dear Wife" instead (or MDW), I have a Tumblr, under the same penname (LScore) where I promote the chapters and then put extended ANs about tiny ass details like this under the jump, and the thinking behind the nickname is under the link for Chapter 16 (please go read my shouting into the void). 
> 
> Thank you to Reglee for a stellar Beta job as always, and as always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and lipstick kisses on mirrors always make my day. Thanks for stopping by, and stay safe and healthy, and see you soon!


	18. Interruptions

Even after Itachi got back from his conference, Sasuke still found himself going to the cafeteria for his meals at least a couple times a week, without his roommates. Unknowingly, he developed the habit of scanning the room for a head of pink hair every time he was in there. He’d yet to see her again, but it didn’t stop him from looking.

Today, he went to the cafeteria alone again. He told himself it was because it was convenient - Sasuke had had to go oversee the renovations on their offices, and this cafeteria was the closest to the west gate. The fact that it happened to be the cafeteria that was most convenient for Sakura to grab lunch at… wasn’t part of his calculations. At all.

Holding a couple of onigiri and a can of coffee, he scanned the bustling cafeteria. This time, he did spot her, sitting in the back corner of the cafeteria. She was eating a sandwich and smiling at the girl with long hair in front of her. Unconsciously, his feet turned him towards that part of the cafeteria.

_Would it be awkward if I sit beside them? If the other girl is also a CS student, I could make the excuse of joining my juniors. That wouldn’t be unheard of, right?_

When he got closer though, just out of earshot, and just as he was rehearsing how to ask her if the seat beside her was taken, he got a good look at the face of the girl she was talking with. He paused. Because Sakura’s seatmate wasn’t a girl.

It was a guy. 

Quite an attractive one, even though he had very long hair and pale eyes.

And then Sakura leaned over, dropped her voice, and whispered something in a low tone to her conversational partner. The scene looked oddly…. intimate.

 _I should probably go straight home and review those contracts_. Sasuke’s steps picked up. He purposely ignored Sakura as he walked by her table, right out the door behind her, and through the courtyard towards the professor’s quarters.

He ignored the leaden feeling in his heart when she didn’t even notice him, either.

**(￣ヘ￣)**

“Say that again?” Sakura fought hard to maintain her smile as she leaned forward and dropped her volume. Hinata’s insufferable cousin elegantly wiped his mouth. She was so focused on the dumbass in front of her that she ignored the niggling part of her subconsciousness that told her she missed something important.

“I said,” Neji obligingly repeated himself, “that I understand why you would do it.”

Sakura gritted her teeth. _This is what I get for trying to play nice with any of Hinata’s bonkers family_. She was seriously regretting her spur of the moment decision to sit across from this lunatic and mend bridges. Somehow, she’d thought anyone who helped Tenten get back to her dorms after she’d been injured couldn’t be that bad. _How naive._ First, it’d been ten minutes of one-word answers to her desperately cheerful small-talk as she choked down her sandwich. Now, he came out with this idiocy! Her cheek muscles were hurting from so much fake smiling, dammit!

“Could you please be more specific as to what exactly I’m doing?” Sakura asked as politely as she could. She stuffed the last of her sandwich into her mouth to keep herself from screaming.

“Compensated dating,” Neji replied calmly.

 _That. Is. IT._ “Come with me,” standing up, Sakura slammed her palms into the cafeteria table.

Neji looked up at her startled. His eyes widened even further when cracks spread from underneath her palms, reached his side of the table, and then the entire table broke apart. The bowl he’d been eating his noodles from dropped to the floor.

Without another word, he picked up his bowl, placed it on the seat beside him, and picked up his bag to follow her out. Too irritated to be polite, Sakura marched towards the courtyard outside the cafeteria, all the way out to one shady corner surrounded by high hedges. Looking left and right to make sure they were well and truly alone, she spun and glared at him before she let him have it.

_He still looks as snotty and judgemental as ever. I’ll never figure it out how he and Hinata-chan are cousins._

“Look, I don’t need to explain myself to you, but I’m going to anyways for Hinata-chan’s sake. I was tutoring a young kid with a psychopathic streak who doesn’t like any authority figures, including me. His grandfather dropped me off after a particularly hard session one day, and the little shit hacked the convenience store footage to get so-called incriminating pictures, and posted it on the forums in a childish attempt to ruin my life. That’s all.”

“Prove it,” Neji shot back.

Sakura wanted to pull her hair out, “What part of I don’t need to explain myself to you do you not understand?”

“The part where I can convince Hinata’s father to pull her out of the dorms if I find enough circumstantial evidence against you,” Neji said icily.

Sakura really wanted to punch him, but she knew she had to be careful, so she gathered her patience again, “How do you want me to prove it then?”

“Paystubs or confirmation from your employer.”

Sakura rubbed her temples in frustration, “I can’t provide either. Chiyo-obaasan doesn’t trust banks so she paid me in cash, and they fired me after I brought up the whole forum incident to protect Sasori-kun’s reputation. They won’t even confirm that I worked for them because of it. I’m technically risking my NDA to tell you this at all.”

Neji sneered, “How convenient for you.”

Sakura threw up her hands, “All you have is a picture and stupid brain bug that I’m a fucking prostitute!”

“Actually I have more than that,” Neji opened his bag and pulled out a folder, stiffly holding it out to her. Sakura glowered at him, but reluctantly snatched the folder from his hand and opened it up to start reading.

Neji watched her face as Sakura read. As she flipped through the pages, her face turned paler and paler, until she reached the last page, and even her lips were bloodless. Closing the dossier with a decisive slap, she glared at Neji.

“I can’t believe the nerve of you-,” Sakura hissed, “You spied on me! And not just me, my parents as well! You have my academic record, my bank account details, testimonials from my teachers, and even the details of the mortgage on my parent’s bakery! How dare you!?”

Neji watched her closely. She was nearly breathless with rage, but Neji could also see a trace of fear in her eyes. Her hands were balled into tight fists, and he could see her shoulders tremble.

 ** __** _Truly a guilty conscience if I ever saw one_ , Neji snorted to himself. “We are very serious when it comes to protecting the reputation of our clan, Haruno-san.”

“What the hell does that have to do with my privacy and my family’s privacy?” Sakura shot back.

“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Neji replied, “If you had just explained yourself properly first instead of… doing what you did, we probably would have let this issue go. But now… well, at least you know that we also have means. Even if it isn’t prostitution, we will find out exactly what you were trying to hide from us. If it’s anything that might harm Hinata-sama, be sure we will deal with you and your family _appropriately_.”

 _SHANNARO!_ Sakura lost it.

 _WHAP!_ She threw the dossier in Neji’s face. Neji couldn’t react in time. The dossier hit him straight in the face then blew open, and papers scattered everywhere, all over the cobblestone, under the hedges, and even caught on the opening of Neji’s briefcase. As papers fell down in enormous white flakes around them, the two of them stared at each other in stony silence, like a pair of gunslingers waiting for the other to shoot first.

“Investigate all you fucking want, Hyuuga-san. There’s nothing in your precious dossier that indicates I’m doing anything illegal or wrong,” Sakura finally ground out, “But if you dare to come near my family or publicize these unfounded speculations, I’ll pull Chiyo-obaasan, Ebizo-ojisan, and Tsunade-shishou to come and testify on my behalf, damn the non-disclosure penalty, and then I’ll drag the Hyuugas through the mud in the media with a slander lawsuit. I bet the diplomatic corps of your family will love the publicity. In fact, I bet all the family’s connections would love to know how far the Hyuugas will go to dig dirt for such a minor matter.”

With that said, and knowing she couldn’t afford any more property damage charges this term, Sakura turned around and left, her back straight and proud.

Neji watched her go, frozen stiff with shock at her last threat. It was effective, as far as these things went. It was one thing for diplomats to dig up dirt on each other in the dark, it was entirely another for the dirty laundry to be dragged through the courts. She was just a nobody from a backwards town like Ushiogakure. Still, she had invoked the Dean of the Computer Science faculty’s name, and he still didn’t know who’d hacked the Hyuuga private servers. Given that only files related to his investigation on Haruno were deleted, he suspected her, but nothing in the very extensive background check he’d done indicated she’d had any proclivity for hacking. _Still, she could have established a connection to a top hacker somehow._ He would just have to continue with his current line of investigation in the game… but very, very carefully.

He bent over to pick up the papers that that vulgar woman had scattered all over the place, still fuming at her audacity. When he was looking down, however, he caught the soft sound of footsteps leaving the small courtyard that he and Haruno-san had both thought was deserted,

“Who’s there?” He barked out sharply.

No one answered him. Neji quickly shoved all the papers into the folder and shoved folder back into his briefcase, then did a quick circle of the courtyard to see if anyone was around. However, since he didn’t see anything suspicious, he allayed his suspicions and left the courtyard, moving north towards the foreign studies buildings to get on with his very busy schedule.

Near the south exit of the courtyard, Kin quickly looked around to see if the famous Hyuuga Neji from the Foreign Languages department had spotted her. When she realized she was safe, she took out a crumpled sheet of paper that she’d “accidentally” picked up and started scanning it. _I just thought it was a good angle for people-watching the path from the West gate. Who knew the real show would happen in the courtyard! And it was Hyuuga-senpai and that Haruno girl!_

A smirk curved her lips as she read through Haruno’s bank statements. There were unexplained deposits of cash every two weeks, to the tune of a couple tens of thousands ryos. Sure, it _could_ be tutoring wages (although that was four times what any other tutor could’ve made), but it _could_ also be from compensated dating (a bit low, probably just right for how unattractive Haruno was). 

Either way, Kin carefully tucked away the bank records. She’d deploy it at just the right moment for maximum effect, especially if Haruno was getting in the way of Ino-chan and Uchiha-senpai. If Haruno went to settle accounts, she could just then push the blame onto Hyuuga-senpai. Besides, between the two of them, she’d rather believe Hyuuga-senpai.

Kin smirked. How could she let such a moral stain continue in Konoha U and compete with Ino-chan for the campus beauty? She was doing it for the greater good. With that in mind, she skipped back towards her dorm room, smiling like the cat who stole the cream.

┬┴┬┴┤( ͡° ͜ʖ├┬┴┬┴

Chouji wanted to clobber whoever suggested they play pickup basketball. Not that he was playing, but he had somehow been roped in to sit on the bench to keep score. That would normally be fine, but it was still early March, which meant it was _cold_. Chouji scowled at the half court, where Kiba was trying to shoulder past Naruto, and Sasuke covered Shikamaru so he couldn’t make a breakaway, and resentfully shoved another handful of chips into his mouth. 

“Oi, Kiba, my grandaunty moves faster than you!”

“Fuck off Naruto!”

“Right there.”

“Watch it, Shikamaru!”

“Troublesome...”

Chouji continued to snack as he watched, unimpressed, as the other guys struggled hard against each other on the court. The ball bounced, the sweat flew, and for all the damn twisting they did, no one moved more than a foot from where they started. He was just about to grab another bag of chips when Naruto finally snatched the ball from Kiba and took advantage of Shikamaru’s inattention for just a second. That second was all Sasuke needed. 

_Finally_ , Chouji sighed in relief. In that moment when Shikamaru was looking the wrong way, Sasuke had already taken his shot from the three pointer line. All they could do was helplessly watch as the ball curved through the air in a perfect arc, not even touching the rim as they scored.

“Whoohoo!” Naruto pumped both arms in the air. He grabbed Sasuke’s hand to pull him for some enthusiastic back thumps.

“Get off me, idiot,” Sasuke shoved him off after a couple of pats. Naruto only laughed harder.

“Good game,” Shikamaru came over.

“Next time I want to guard Sasuke. Naruto’s too much of a pain in the ass,” Kiba complained as he grabbed his towel and water bottle off the bench where Chouji was sitting.

“Don’t hate me cause you can’t beat me,” Naruto grinned, taking a huge swig of his drink. Kiba elbowed him in the ribs, making Naruto spit the water he was drinking right onto Shikamaru. Sasuke dodged out of the way just in time.

“You guys are so troublesome.” Shikamaru complained, 

“You’re dripping with sweat anyways,” Kiba snickered, “Naruto just gave you a shower free of charge.”

“Kiba!” Naruto started chasing him around the court with his towel.

“Here,” Sasuke passed Shikamaru his extra towel. Shikamaru nodded in thanks, but grimaced at his state.

“Are you guys going to call it now?” Chouji asked, “I’m almost out of chips.”

Sasuke was about to agree when a loud voice interrupted all of them, including Naruto chasing Kiba around the court.

“Yo, yo, yo! Is that the CompSci men's basketball team I see there?” A tall fourth year student with dark skin and long dreadlocks yelled at them. He was standing with two other stone faced guys, one with a burly appearance and the other looking aloof and elegant. The loudmouth made a striking contrast to his two friends. “The fools that didn’t even make it to the game against the Chemistry department.”

“Killer B! Gyuki!” Naruto cheered, walking over to greet them, “Hey guys!”

“Naruto my man,” Killer B offered him a fist pump, which Naruto took him up on, “What were you doing, missing out on that game?”

“Company stuff,” Naruto shrugged, “Hey Gyuki, what’s up?”

“Naruto,” The burly-looking guy nodded to him, and then to Kiba who wandered over as well, “Inuzuka.”

Kiba nodded back, then nodded at the unfamiliar guy, “Who’s this?” From where he was sitting, Shikamaru was wondering that as well - something about his long hair tied back in a ponytail and pale eyes prodded as his memory.

“Buddy of mine,” Killer B grinned. The other guy nodded at them, “Thought he was looking too pasty so we decided to drag him out onto the court to get some sun. You guys down for a 3v3, first to five?”

“Probably,” Naruto shrugged, then turned and shouted at the bench where the other three friends were sitting, “Shika! Sasuke! Do either of you want to play a 3v3 with the guys from the Foreign Languages team?”

“No,” Shikamaru groaned. His butt remained firmly planted on the bench.

Chouji wasn’t at all surprised by Shikamaru’s reaction. He also expected Sasuke to just ignore Naruto since he’d already started changing his shoes, but Chouji was wrong. 

Sasuke actually changed his shoes back and then stood up, water bottle in hand, to join the quintet on the side of the court. His eyes were focused on the one guy in the group that didn’t play intramural basketball. “I will.”

“Great!” Naruto cheered.

Shikamaru and Chouji glanced at each other, confused. _What the heck is Sasuke doing?_

More than a bit puzzled, Shikamaru watched closely as the guys picked up the ball and started playing again. Naruto and Killer B guarded each other with the true viciousness of close friends, flying elbows and all, while Kiba and Gyuki reminded Shikamaru of a sheep dog herding a bull. That left Sasuke with the new guy. The new guy wasn’t from the Foreign Languages intramural team, but something about him made Shikamaru think he’d seen him before.

But Sasuke…

Sasuke was being…. nice?

Neither Naruto nor Kiba would notice in the heat of the game, and Killer B and Gyuuki wouldn’t notice it either since they weren’t all that familiar with Sasuke’s play style. _I bet Chouji’s noticed something’s off, even if he can’t say exactly what_ , Shikamaru glanced at his childhood friend. He noticed that Chouji had slowed his chip-eating speed considerably.

Shikamaru was nearly sure of it though, when the new guy ducked under Sasuke’s arm and nearly scored a basket before he passed it to Gyuki, who charged forward through Kiba for a layup that he couldn’t block. Shikamaru frowned - The foreign languages guys scored a point?

“Haha, what were you saying earlier, Neji? You’re pretty good at Basketball,” Killer B high-fived him.

“Sasuke, what the hell man?” Kiba demanded.

“Worry about yourself before you worry about me,” Sasuke muttered, wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt. The motion exposed his abs. A couple of girls who had gathered on the other side of the fence to watch and record exploded in twitters. Shikamaru ignored them. He was used to this troublesome scene.

He focused on the game instead. He watched as Sasuke stepped up and played to his usual calibre. But still...

1-1. Naruto scored the first point for the CS team by taking advantage of Killer B's split second of distraction when he had a spurt of inspiration for a new rap verse.

2-1. Kiba got his revenge on Gyuki with a well-timed intercept and passed it to Sasuke, who immediately passed it to Naruto, who took the shot from the three point line before Killer B turned around. Killer B cocked his head in confusion before he shook it off. Shikarmaru could tell that he'd expected Sasuke to go for a breakaway, just like he had.

2-2. 3-2. 3-3. 3-4. 4-4. Shikamaru watched in disbelief as the 3v3 match was drawn out to the very last point. _Considering Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba are all-stars in the intramural league, and while Killer B and Gyuki are good, but the last dude’s no where near their level. How did this get to 4-4? What’s going on with Sasuke?_ Sensing a puzzle he didn’t necessarily want to solve, Shikamaru closed his eyes. _The answer’s probably a pain in the ass._

For this all important last point, the random dude took the ball, facing off with Sasuke. Shikamaru watched with half-lidded eyes, wondering what exactly Sasuke was playing at. Based on his actions, he’d probably let the dude at least get past him, but...

Shikamaru’s prediction proved wrong. As soon as the guy started dribbling, Sasuke finally moved like they all knew he could. He intercepted the ball before the new guy even realized it was gone, brought it back to the end of the court to change sides, then threw it long as if he was going for a half-court shot. Naruto knew this move well enough, though, and while Killer B was still watching the ball go in, Naruto was already jumping. 

Just as they all thought Sasuke missed, Naruto ever-so-gently tipped the ball neatly into the net.

“YES!” Kiba cheered. He grabbed Naruto in a chokehold.

“Aww come on, Uchiha,” Killer B grumbled, “No way that was on purpose.”

Sasuke gave him a tiny smirk, “Believe what you want, B.”

“Tch.”

“That’s more like it, asshole,” Naruto pulled him into the weird dogpile Kiba started as they drifted back towards the bench where Shikamaru and Chouji were sitting.

“Hey Sasuke,” Chouji called out, “Do you know Hyuuga Neji?”

Naruto and Kiba were abruptly dumped to the ground as Sasuke threw them off and straightened, staring at Chouji. “Who?” Sasuke demanded, his eyes flinty.

“Hyuuga Neji,” Chouji nodded towards the new guy with the long hair who Sasuke had spent all of the game guarding against. Killer B and Gyuki were consoling him, but he didn’t look happy to have had the ball snatched out of his hands like that. “Guy with long hair. I had a class with him in second year.”

“Wait. Hyuuga,” Shikamaru suddenly realized why he thought those pale eyes looked familiar, “He’s got a cousin in our department, right? I think she and my girlfriend are roommates.”

“Really now...” Sasuke drawled. Shikamaru eyed him warily. _This guy’s not making any sense._

“Do you know him?” Chouji asked again,

“We have a mutual acquaintance,” Sasuke said, inexplicably grim. Ignoring both Kiba and Naruto, who were swearing at him, he picked up the basketball and walked back towards Killer B, Gyuuki, and Hyuuga.

“Hyuuga-san,” Sasuke called out to him, “Again. 1v1 to five.” The ice in his voice made even Naruto and Kiba stop yelling at Sasuke.

Hyuuga Neji frowned at Sasuke. His words weren’t exactly impolite, but the way Sasuke was looking at Neji was pure provocation. He had on the expression that Naruto called his punchable face: Undisguised disdain.

“Alright,” Hyuuga replied slowly. He watched Sasuke with some resentment, probably from how easily he’d had the ball stolen from him at the last point.

They lined up at the end of the half-court, with Killer B to act as their referee. Just before the faceoff, Shikamaru saw the look on Sasuke’s face.

A tiny, ironic, smirk.

 _That’s not good._ Shikamaru knew it would be too troublesome to try and stop Sasuke now, but he lit a candle for Hyuuga in his mind.

1-0. Sasuke won the faceoff to easily shoulder past Hyuuga’s blocking efforts to go straight for a lay up. Shikamaru sighed, _maybe it won’t be too bad_.

2-0. Hyuuga started at the half-court, but before he got two steps in, Sasuke effortlessly stole the ball from him mid-dribble and flowed around his ineffective blocking to score a 3-pointer. Shikamaru could practically see the steam coming out from Hyuuga’s ears.

3-0, 4-0. At this point Shikamaru and all the gathered spectators could see Sasuke was just toying with Hyuuga. He gave up several perfectly good shooting opportunities to taunt Hyuuga with the ball, trying to get him to steal it from him, only to easily score a point once Hyuuga was too dizzy to keep guarding him.

For the final faceoff, Hyuuga actually held onto the ball to try and catch his breath, and Sasuke just waited patiently. Besides the light sheen of sweat on his forehead, Sasuke looked as spotless as he had when they’d started playing. Hyuuga, on the other hand, was a mess. His hair fell out of his ponytail, his face was bright red, and all the huffing and puffing he was doing really detracted from the murderous glare he leveled at Sasuke.

“Wh-what did I ever do to you, Uchiha?” He spat out.

Sasuke didn’t bother answering him, just raised his eyebrows at him to tell him to get on with this public execution. Neji finally caught his breath, got a good grip on the basketball, and set his stance. All of a sudden, he charged, faster than he had ever before, and finally managed to dribble it past Sasuke -

Shikamaru blinked. _No, that wasn’t right_.

Neji went to shoot the ball, only to find that his hands were empty. That legendary poker face cracked as he spun to look for it, only to find it…

In Sasuke’s hands. Back at the Half Court.

Sasuke smirked. And took his shot.

5-0. Nothing but net.

The silence was deafening. Shikamaru actually felt bad for Hyuuga, who was standing in the middle of the court like a dumbass. Sasuke, however, just walked back to the bench and picked up his stuff.

And then left. He didn’t even look at Hyuuga any more, like his opponent wasn’t even worthy of the title.

Shikamaru, Naruto, Kiba and Chouji looked at each other, then wordlessly picked up their stuff to follow. Shikamaru couldn’t help smirk, _He always did know how to make an exit._

“So Hyuuga,” Behind them, Killer B was the first to break the deadly silence on the court, “How the hell did you piss off Uchiha that bad, ya fool?”

Shikamaru was curious too, but it’d be too troublesome to try and ask Sasuke about it. If he had to guess what emotions Sasuke was feeling..

Sucking up? Jealousy? Then righteous vengeance?

Shikamaru could only shake his head. That couldn’t be right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah Shikamaru, if only you knew...
> 
> The more I write Sasuke's inner thoughts, the more tsundere and more tsundere he gets. I dig it! Also, to whoever asked for more Shikamaru last time, I wasn't going to put him into this scene, but somehow he snuck in. He cracks me up because he's such a lazy character to write. Thanks for your patience this week! Thank you to Reglee for a stellar Beta job as always, and as always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and wishes folded into paper stars always make my day. Thanks for stopping by, and stay safe and healthy, and see you soon! 
> 
> Oh and PS: 23 ;)


	19. Pervert

“S-Sakura-chan?”

Nothing.

“Saku-chan.”

Still nothing.

Tenten and Hinata looked at each other helplessly. Tenten finally tried shoved a tissue in front of Sakura’s face. “Saku-chan, you’re actually drooling.”

“H-Huh?” That broke Sakura’s trance. She looked back at Tenten and Hinata, who were trying very hard to stifle their giggles, and turned a bright red when she looked back down at the slightly damp tissue.

“Wh-what are you looking at, Sakura-chan?” Hinata asked

“Nothing!” Sakura slammed her laptop closed.

Tenten raised her eyebrow with a sly grin, “Oh yeah? It’s got nothing to do with the ‘Uchiha-senpai rekts at basketball’ thread on the forums? And that gif of Uchiha-senpai’s abs?”

“Shut up! Shannaro!” Sakura turned an even darker shade of red as she swatted at Tenten with the pillow off her bed. Cackling, Tenten dodged out of the way, then ran to the other side of the table where Hinata was sitting and grabbed her like a human shield. Sakura chased after Tenten, still brandishing her pillow, but her last thwack accidentally hit Hinata full in the face instead.

Sakura stopped, immediately abashed. “Sorry, Hinata-chan. Are you okay?”

“I-I’m okay,” Hinata blinked a bid dazedly as she sat back down in her chair. She tried to change the topic. “Wh-which forum thread?”

“Uchiha-senpai destroyed your cousin on the basketball court,” Tenten, the instigator of the whole situation, peaked back out, and pulled it up on Hinata’s laptop, “It’s the third reply! Pretty sure Saku-chan got distracted by the gifs of his abs in the first post, though.”

“Shut up,” Sakura roughly nudged Tenten.

“They’re nice abs!”

“I-I didn’t know Neji-niisama could play Basketball,” Hinata murmured, her brows crinkling. Neji had always been an excellent ping pong and golf player, but she’d never heard of him playing any contact sports.

“From the recording on his 1v1 against Uchiha-senpai, I don’t think he can,” Tenten snickered as she pressed play on the video for them to watch. None of them were basketball experts or anything, but the three of them had gone to enough intramural basketball games to be able to judge how this 1v1 match was going.

“Wow,” Sakura watched with wide eyes, “Uchiha-senpai looks super hot when he’s destroying someone on the court.”

“Of course that’s what you notice,” Tenten rolled her eyes. Sakura nudged her again.

“I-I wonder what Neji-niisama said to anger Uchiha-senpai,” Hinata murmured, “H-he looks very mad.”

“From my vast experience-,” Tenten started pompously, but was interrupted by Sakura’s snort. Tenten glared at her, then continued, “- gleaned from many romance novels, dramas, and movies, thank you very much Saku-chan, Uchiha-senpai looks like he’s avenging a love debt.”

“A what now?” Sakura looked at her as if she was speaking a different language.

“A love debt,” Tenten repeated herself, “You know, a grudge because of a romantic affair.”

“Y-You think Neji-niisama and Uchiha-senpai were-,” Hinata started. She looked intrigued by the idea.

“I was thinking more like Hyuuga-senpai made a move on the person Uchiha-senpai is interested in, but…,” Tenten trailed off. She looked intrigued by the idea as well.

“No way!” Sakura waved her hands in the air, like she was trying to dispel the idea with her hands. Using her expert knowledge, she broke the analysis down for her roommates, “For one, Uchiha-senpai’s never been interested in anyone before. For two, if he’d shown the slightest interest in pursuing anyone, it would be all over the forums, which it hasn’t. And finally, no offense Hinata, but your cousin can’t be Uchiha-senpai’s type!”

“Why not?” Tenten protested, “They kind of have a similar icy-cold vibe going on, and they’re both attractive. I could see it. It could work!”

“Nu-uh!” Sakura shook her head, “Hyuuga’s such a bad…” She stopped before she blurted out what happened at lunch the day before and the heinous way Neji had breached her privacy. She didn’t want to just bring it up in front of Hinata or Tenten like that; Hinata probably didn’t know her family had ordered invasive background checks on them, and Sakura didn’t want to affect their friendship by carelessly blurting it out.

“A bad what, Saku-chan?” Tenten prompted her.

“A bad match,” Sakura finished lamely, then quickly changed the topic. “Hey, since I’m done my History of Encryption homework, and you guys aren’t doing much, do you guys want to learn how to gather materials in _Way_?”

Hinata and Tenten looked at each other, making Sakura a bit nervous, so she added, “C’mon, it’s kind of rare I don’t have to do couples missions with Meister, and you guys aren’t playing with your static. How’s that going, anyways?”

“I-It’s going well,” Hinata smiled shyly, thinking of Ramen-san and Wulf-san. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief when they both also opened their computers to join her in game, and more importantly, stopped talking about Hyuuga-senpai. She caught Hinata’s smile and was relieved. _Good to know I won’t have to beat up Old Man and Wulf next time I see them._

“Same!” Tenten chirped. “We’re cranking through missions like no-one’s business, but I’d like to get more of the forging in. It’s kind of expensive to just buy the raw materials.”

“Don’t do that! Gathering’s easy, if a bit boring,” Sakura started to explain the mechanic in-game as they all logged on, leading her friends to one of the more secluded herb patches and mines in a lower level area. Gathering in Way was basically a rhythm game with chakra, so it naturally grew with game progression - the more chakra and more precision a player could throw into an attempt, the more rare and valuable the material they could get to craft higher level potions. It was tedious, boring gameplay that Sakura actually found quite relaxing and easy.

“This is just like that cutesy dance game I was playing last week,” Tenten hummed as she started gathering some metals, “Dammit! I missed again!”

Sakura had played Way for so long, she had the timing and levels of most gathering patches down pat, so she could gather without looking at her screen. She peered over at Hinata’s screen while she gathered some herbs nearby, and let out a low whistle when she saw Hinata successfully farm an intermediate level herb.

“Looks like your byakugan training’s been paying off,” Sakura smiled.

“Y-Yes, Ramen-san has been very kindly meditating with me,” Hinata smiled

 _Doesn’t Old Man have the jinchuuriki bloodline limit? I’m pretty sure that means he can’t increase his reserves or control any more_. Before Sakura could wonder more, though, a message from Meister popped on her screen.

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sakura, come here   
> **[Party] System:** Sm1rkMeister has invited you to join the party. Type Y to join, type N to reject the invitation.   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:**???   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Boss   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Use the direct teleport skill   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I’m with friends. OK if we all come?   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sure   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Y   
> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Slow, 3SIL’s otw with friends   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Where are you guys?   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Roger   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** [Foot of the Sleeping Man Hills]   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Could use some more firepower anyways   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** 3SIL Hurry up!!!

“Do you guys want to try doing a special boss event?” Sakura asked. “Meister and his static invited us to one. It’s not far, we can run there.”

“Sure!” Tenten agreed. They left the gathering patch and followed Sakura to another area while Sakura also added them to the party.

“W-what’s a special boss?” Hinata asked as their avatars ran.

“Essentially, a really tough monster that spawns randomly somewhere in the world and starts rampaging. Usually, it takes a team of 5-20 people to take it down, and it’ll randomly grant a reward.”

“Oh wow, since it’s such a tough boss, it’s gotta be a super impressive reward, right?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes it’s crap and you can’t give it away. I once fought a boss on my own and just managed to take it down, only to get Foot binding ribbons from an Old Crone. No attributes, no use - it was just a wardrobe item, and it’s so gross to boot. I was so mad I nearly broke the table.”

“A-actually, you did break the table… we just replaced it before you noticed.”

Sakura stared at Hinata disbelievingly. Hinata and Tenten both were suppressing giggles.

_Friends. Can’t live with them, can’t bury them in the backyard._

They arrived at the area that Meister had pinged on the map and the boss battle music came through their speakers. Tenten, in her eagerness, had already pulled out her weapons. RollOutBoy was tanking the boss and trying to keep him distracted, while Wulf, Akamaru, Meister, and Old Man were swiping at a quickly moving blur. When Sakura saw them, she realized exactly which boss they were fighting, so she yelled, “Wait!” to her roommates while typing quickly in chat.

> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Hurry up and help, 3SIL   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** You guys are fighting Happosai though   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** We’re not going to be much help   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Wut!? Y?   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** If he’s only fighting against male players, Happosai’s attack is normal   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** If he’s only fighting against female players, it’s ⅓ lower   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** If he’s fighting against a mixed gender group… his attack increases by 50%   
> **[Party] SharpAndPonty:** that’s bull****   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** That’s actually kind of cool   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Does he have new dialogue?   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Smack him anyways, 3SIL.

Sakura sighed and clicked a couple of keys while she told Tenten, “Hang on, let me buff you with some extra condition duration. Do you have any poisoned senbon? Anything with slowing or good damage over time? Throw them at Happosai.”

“Sure thing,” Tenten grinned. She started quickly clicking and tapping at her keyboard.

“Hina-chan, can you do the Kaiten yet?” Sakura asked. “The spinning invincible sphere shield technique that Tenten mentioned a while ago.”

“K-Kind of,” Hinata bit her lip.

“How long?”

“O-only about 10 seconds, and only 5 times before I need more chakra,” Hinata admitted, a bit ashamed. Tenten had mentioned that her teammate, who’d started when they had, could do it for 30 seconds at a time. Hinata was already feeling rather useless in this fight. Looking at how much dodging the boss was doing, she could already tell she wouldn’t be much help since her taijutsu wasn’t that fast yet.

“Good enough. Here,” Sakura quickly transferred three advance chakra potions to her, “I’m going to rotate the guys in and out for buffs. I’m not a dedicated buffer, but I can give some with a cast time. When I say go, can you throw up a shield, in case the boss switches aggro?”

Hinata nodded.

> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** I’m going to buff over here once Sharp joins aggro and cripples   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Meister, Wulf, Old Man, and RollOut   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** RollOut come a bit closer so I can heal first   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Roger

“Got him!” Tenten cheered.

> **[Here] Happosai the Thief:** Hohoho pretty girls eh?   
> **[Here] Happosai the Thief:** Not properly staying at home and obediently waiting for her man   
> **[Here] Happosai the Thief:** Instead, you’re out here and fighting on the Way of the Ninja   
> **[Here] Happosai the Thief:** Why don’t you join me?   
> **[Here] Happosai the Thief:** I guarantee you’ll be satisfied   
> **[Here] Happosai the Thief:** In exchange for your panties!

“Oh ew,” Tenten scowled, “What a gross old man. Kill him!” She punched the air

Sakura grinned at her enthusiasm as she healed.

> **[Party] Beowulf69:** He dares to proposition 3SIL   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Destroy him!   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Die!   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Sm1rk come here, I’ll buff you

“Get ready!” Sakura told Hinata. Hinata only nodded tensely.

After a few hiccups in the beginning, Sakura and Hinata worked as a pretty effective team. They were in an area that scaled players down to a level 20 strength, so adding Tenten and her poisons into the fight, and the buffs and healing Sakura and Hinata managed to lay down, the seven of them managed to make short work of a hyper mobile boss with insane DPS pretty quickly.

“Whoo hoo!” Tenten cheered as RollOutBoy landed the KO Shot, literally by rolling over Happosai and flattening him. As the old pervert laid there, moaning and crying, a young girl in a red kungfu martial arts costume and a huge Panda appeared.

> **[Here] Ranma:** Gotcha, ya **** pervert   
> **[Here] Ranma:** Thanks for your help   
> **[Here] Ranma:** C’mon, let’s throw this guy back into the cave, pops   
> **[Here] Ranma:** You can keep whatever he stole   
> **[Here] Ranma:** Call it a reward   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Whoohoo! What’d we get?   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** GG, GJ all   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** That was quite fun!   
> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Give the drop to Sakura - we would’ve failed without her healing   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** We can just roll!   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** You sure you want to give it to 3SIL?   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Hehehe   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Uh?   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Go on, give it to her   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** lololololol   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Uh, no, that’s okay   
> **[Party] SharpAndPointy:** what?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** What is it?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Nothing!   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh….   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** We did so much work and didn’t get any rewards?   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** That’s a pity…   
> **[Party] SharpAndPointy:** pft these boss fights suck   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** urgh normally they’re worth it!   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Like a rare weapon or skill   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** And sometimes they’re ****   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Like this   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** [DongFang Bubai’s Knife]   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh!   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** I can’t believe you still have that   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** You know what it is, Sola?

“Wait, what is it?” Tenten demanded, looking over at Hinata, who was giggling hard.

“I-It’s the knife of a famous swordsman from kungfu movies,” Hinata told her, stifling her laughter, “H-He’s a renown villain who learned his technique from the sunflower manual.”

“So? A knife and a sword aren’t the same thing?”

“M-Most people don’t think about weapons like you, Tenten-chan. But yeah, I-In order to learn from the sunflower manual, the practitioner must first castrate themselves…”

“So everyone must’ve thought they were getting a legendary sword and instead they got the knife that he used to cut off his…” Tenten realized why the knife was famous and looked at her, horrified.

Nodding, Hinata started laughing even harder.

> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** SHE JUST EXPLAINED IT TO ME   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** LOL   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** That’s evil   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** But not really in line with the whole aesthetic of the game, right?   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** I thought this was a ninja game   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** But the chick that just popped up was totally a kungfu style martial arts model   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Some random events bosses are crossover IPs for some of BLOOM Corp’s other properties   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Happosai is a crossover from Dreams of Jianghu   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Which is a kungfu, wuxia based MMO   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh that sounds interesting   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Waitwaitwait   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** You still haven’t answered the question though   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** What did we get this time?   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** …   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** …   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** C’mon, just ping it   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Fine   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** [Ranma’s Boxers]   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** No attributes, no bonuses   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** It’s not even a skin   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Oh   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** …   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** lololololololol   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Sm1rk, you wanna give your wife another guy’s boxer shorts?   
> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** You’re such a waste of healing   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Wasn’t Ranma the name of the girl who came to arrest the boss…?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Hey, is 3SIL upset?   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** Wulf’s just being a butt, you can ignore him   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Don’t worry 3SIL, we’re not actually going to give you the boxer shorts   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** hey, the asshole said we should   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** 3SIL?   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Everything okay?   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I can beat up the idiot for you if you want

“Saku-chan?” Tenten looked at her quizzically. It was only then she noticed that Sakura was zoned out a bit, staring at her screen. Tenten waved her hand in front of Sakura’s face, snapping her out of it.

“Sorry,” Sakura smiled sheepishly. She went back to the game and typed something cheekily.

> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Having followed the path of the ninja for so many years, I have given up material desires.   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Oiiiiiiiiiiii   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Here we all were thinking we offended you   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** but instead you come up with this high falutin bull****   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** She kind of sounds like Sm1rk when he’s trying to piss people off   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Like husband like wife?   
> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Hn   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Everything okay, 3SIL?   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Oh yeah   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** I was just thinking about something   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Happosai’s dialogue gave me an idea   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** for what?   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** That ****ing degenerate?   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Well   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Why don’t we enter the [Found True Love on the Way of the Ninja] Video Competition?   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** What kind of idea can that weirdo give you?   
> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** What’s your idea, MDW?   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Well it starts with a girl who meets a mute boy in an orphanage and falls in love   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** But just before they had the courage to confess, bandits attack...

As Sakura spun out a tale of revenge, hijinks, love and tragedy in the party chat, Hinata and Tenten looked at her with some incredulity. _This is our roommate, the steady and studious scholarship student? She sounds like she’s watched too many soap operas!_ Tenten had to admit though, it was an interesting story. It was just a lot. Still...

> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** holding his lover’s body, he jumps off the cliff to atone   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** So, what do you think?   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** It’s just an idea   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** We don’t have to if you guys think it’ll be too much work   
> **[Party] SakuraBlossom:** Or it’s too silly   
> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Let’s do it   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** This sounds hilarious, I’m in   
> **[Party] OldRamenMan:** I’m down!   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** This sounds fun   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** Might as well   
> **[Party] Beowulf69:** Hey, don’t leave me out!   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Are you sure?   
> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** I don’t have to say very much, I get to fight you and beat up the idiots   
> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Sounds fun   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** You totally did that on purpose   
> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** pfffffffft   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** hn ;alknmf

“Sakura-chan, your husband is hilarious,” Tenten grinned.

“H-he’s quite unrestrained,” Hinata added. Sakura just rolled her eyes at the both of them.

> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** I want to be the blacksmith bystander who tells the avenger where to find the Black Lily!   
> **[Party] Tournesola:** Does that make me the orphanage director that dies?

The three of them waited for a while for a response, but the four other avatars on-screen just stood there. After a while, a new status appeared over their heads. Tenten hovered over it and read the flavour text: “This player is idle and may not respond to messages.”

Puzzled, she asked in chat.

> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Guys?

Still no response.

> **[Party] SharpandPointy:** Are you guys still there?   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** sorry   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** 2V1 IRL PVP   
> **[Party] RollOutBoy:** to decide the who the idiots are

_They must live together,_ Sakura realized with an internal snicker, _judging from his last message, Meister just got jumped_. Before she could make a joke about placing bets for the winner though, Meister was already back.

> **[Party] Sm1rkMeister:** Wulf and Old Man are the idiots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huehuehue I wonder what kind of story Sakura spun out? ;)
> 
> This is a pretty cameo heavy episode, all things considered. Anyone else grow up with Ranma 1/2 or am I dating myself? I read it way back when, when I got fed up with Inuyasha back in the day when that was still ongoing. There's another cameo that sharp-eyed novel readers will have noticed as well ;) Extended ANs in the tumblr per usual (in a couple hours). Also, for those of you who are still keeping track: 21 (that's why chapters have been a bit slower than I like). Thank you to Reglee for a stellar Beta job as always, and as always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and well wishes tied to butterfly legs always make my day. Thanks for stopping by, stay healthy, and see you soon!


	20. Decisions

“So you’ll give me Higurashi for QA and Yamanaka for Project management, and I’ll leave you Minakura for coding?” Sai said, looking across the table at his colleagues. They were sitting in the conference room making the final decision for this summer’s interns.

“Yes, that’s fine with me,” the other Gaming department team leader, Yakushi Nono, took one last look at the resume in front of him and sighed, “Pity about Yamanaka-san, though. If it weren’t for the sensitivity of your project, I’d have fought harder for her.”

“Better luck next time,” Sai smiled.

“It’s a pity about Haruno,” Nono said as she flipped through some of the discarded resumes, “With her grades and awards, I thought we’d be bringing her on for sure, but after that interview...”

“Grades aren’t everything,” Yamato said, also looking over the candidate’s resume, “She needs some work experience, but we’re not a charity. She’s just not a good fit right now. I’d be interested if she gets a job this summer and applies for Software development again next summer, though.”

While he didn’t let his annoyance at the pointless gossip show on his face, Sai nevertheless tried to move his colleagues along by standing up and gathering his papers. “Nono, I’ll leave it to you to inform HR to make the offers then?”

“Sure, no problem. I’ll make sure they go out by the end of the week,” she waved at him, already used to his abrupt manner, “Oh, can you talk to some of your contacts about LEAF Corp this week? Considering they haven’t responded to our offer yet, we gotta go with Plan B and apply some pressure.”

Sai paused at the door, a sneer of distaste on his lips. He knew what kind of pressure Nono meant, and he knew what Plan B was, but as much as he didn’t like these tactics, he didn’t have a choice. If she was telling him to do it, Shigaraki and Danzo had already approved of these shady methods, and he couldn’t fight the big bosses without risking his job.

“Will do,” Sai turned around and smiled gently at her. Then he left the room before his colleagues could disgust him any more.

**(￢_￢;)**

Later that week, Sasuke sat at his desk in his brother’s faculty housing apartment and read the email for the twelfth time. He sighed. Thoroughly frustrated, Sasuke raked his hand through his hair and put his head down on his desk in a rare gesture of defeat.

This was the fifth email he’d gotten this week about the same thing. While BLOOM was still interested in a partnership to expand their mobile game, LEAF needed more capital to expand into PC games like they’d wanted, especially if they wanted to pick up _that_ project. However, another group of investors who’d initially been interested in their game engines suddenly did a 180 and didn’t want to invest in their company any more. _It’s their loss_ , Sasuke thought resentfully. He hadn’t wanted to go down the venture capital route to begin with, except to save his friends’ pride, but with ROOT Corp’s interference, they didn’t have much of a choice, now.

His phone pinged. Sasuke picked up his phone and read the text from Naruto.

 **From the Idiot:** Fuck I saw the email. Iwa VC just pulled out   
**To the Idiot:** Are you guys going to fight me on our plan B now?   
**From the Idiot:** Urghhhh Fine.   
**From the Idiot:** I don’t like feeling like we’re taking advantage of you   
**To the Idiot:** Shut up   
**From the Idiot:** Fuck you too

Smirking at his last text, Sasuke picked up his pitch file for their company and went to go find his brother. _Time for another chess game._

**(￣ ￣|||)**

Itachi still remembered when 16-year-old Sasuke had turned up at his door one day, sullen, defiant, with “I don’t care if you don’t want me, but I’m not going back” written all over his face. All he’d had was a half-empty school bag, with a couple of textbooks and his laptop, and a black eye. Itachi hadn’t known what to say then either. 

He’d just stepped back and let his brother into his house, but hadn’t known what to do next. He hadn’t known what to say to this brother that was no longer the smiling six-year-old boy who he’d taught to play chess, nor the eight-year-old who’d thrown a tantrum when they hadn’t taken him to Itachi’s celebratory banquet to celebrate receiving his PhD. Itachi hadn’t seen him immediately after the accident that had killed his parents after his celebratory banquet that night either - when he’d awoken from his coma, his brother already blamed him for the car crash that had killed both their parents and had put Itachi into that coma.

Their visits over the years went from frosty to hostile, and while Itachi was bewildered and hurt by Sasuke’s attitude, he had honoured his wishes and reduced his visits and letters. Itachi hadn’t even sent a card this holiday. So seeing his baby brother turn up on his doorstep that day was the last thing he’d expected. 

Standing there in the entryway that day, Itachi was not prepared.

“Are you hungry?”

“No.”

“Want some water?”

“Hn.”

“Do Aunt and Uncle-”

“I don’t want anything to do with those bastards.”

As the silence stretched between them like a taut bowstring, Itachi groped for something else, anything else to say, to make Sasuke feel at home. He couldn’t stand how Sasuke just stared at his feet, as if he was afraid to look at Itachi. What came out were words he hadn’t said to anyone for eight years.

“Do you want to play a game of chess?”

That finally startled Sasuke enough to look up at him. The look of fear and trepidation fading in his brother’s eyes made Itachi smile just a little in relief. Not giving Sasuke a chance to refuse, he gestured him towards the living room of the tiny, faculty-provided apartment he was currently living in.

“Come, sit down. I still have our old set somewhere...”

By the time he’d dug it up from his study, Sasuke was sitting on the sofa, still wearing his backpack. He was clearly uncomfortable since he was looking around like he was trying to find the nearest exit at all times, but Itachi chose to ignore his brother’s discomfort and just set up the familiar, scuffed chessboard.

“White goes first,” Itachi gestured for Sasuke to make the first move.

Sasuke picked up the pieces like he hadn’t played in years. That first game told Itachi just how agitated and upset his brother was, because Itachi checkmated him in eight moves.

Sasuke stared at the board.

Itachi wondered if he was going to cry like he had when he was six, snot bubbles and all.

Sasuke looked up at him. “Again.”

It took another game to get Sasuke to put down his backpack. Two more games to get him to accept the water and sandwich Itachi brought him. A whole five more games until Itachi gave up waiting for Sasuke to say something himself. Sasuke lost every single one. But Itachi could see his heart stabilize as they kept playing, and it gave him some hope.

Itachi spent that day ignoring his marking, ignoring his emails, ignoring the calls from relatives he didn’t like that started around the fourth game, and just focusing on the little brother who didn’t know how to say what he needed. Around 1 am, when Itachi mentioned that he would get him a blanket to sleep on the sofa for now, Sasuke looked up at him, stunned.

“You don’t hate me? You’re not going to throw me out?” He asked.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at him, “No.”

The dam broke. Sasuke finally told him about the brainwashing, and the emotional abuse, how he’d been told that Itachi hated him for standing in the way of his dream to become a professor. Sasuke told him about how he’d found out about the embezzlement from the family company and the physical abuse that had started when he’d demanded an answer. Itachi listened to it all quietly, watching the little brother who he should’ve protected fight hard not to cry. 

When it was out, when Sasuke looked drained, Itachi looked at him for another minute, and then quietly said, “You better take the bed tonight then. I’m going to make some phone calls.” He shepherded Sasuke into the bathroom to wash up and then to his bedroom to fall asleep. In that moment, Itachi was a bit terrified when he saw how docilely Sasuke went.

And then he got to work. He might have chosen the life of a leisurely academic, but he was still the eldest son of the Uchiha conglomerate, and he could still destroy anyone who forgot that.

“Nii-san,” Sasuke interrupted his train of thoughts, “Checkmate.”

Itachi blinked, unceremoniously jerked back to the present. “Ah. Good game.”

“You weren’t paying attention,” The corner of Sasuke’s mouth quirked up.

“Thinking of some old memories,” Itachi said sheepishly. He hastily rearranged the pieces, “Another game? Or do you want to talk about something else?”

“Something else… I want to make an early withdrawal against my inheritance trust,” Sasuke said. He handed Itachi a folder that Itachi opened and started scanning through, “I want to use the inheritance to back the company we started. We’ve been having issues with raising venture funding because of a competitor, but once we get past this, we should be fine. BLOOM is still interested in partnering with us with our mobile game. Can you-”

Itachi raised a finger to silence his brother as he read through the detailed business plan. Sasuke fell silent, but Itachi could still feel the weight of his stare. Inside, he smirked a bit at Sasuke’s babbling. It’d been a while since he’d seen that.

Still, the plan was good. _It’s really the conglomerate’s loss that Sasuke refuses to join the family business,_ Itachi mused as he read through the numbers. _But…_

“Your half of the trust won’t be enough for your ideal scenario,” Itachi stated baldly. He raised an eyebrow at his brother. If Sasuke didn’t have super-human control, he’d’ve thought Sasuke was squirming

“It’s enough to bootstrap. Plus, there’s the car and the apartment…”

“No.” 

Sasuke’s eyes darkened, “You can’t tell me what to do with my personal property.”

“I have a better proposal,” Itachi said calmly to cut off Sasuke’s rising temper, “The conglomerate will give you an angel loan.”

“I don’t want charity, and I don’t want to embezzle against Father’s legacy,” Sasuke’s voice rose as he argued.

“It’s not charity, and it’s not embezzlement,” Itachi responded. He softened a little when he saw how upset Sasuke still was at the idea. Ever since that day six years ago, since they’d also cut off their relatives, Sasuke was especially sensitive about that point and kept the family business at an arm's length. Itachi hadn’t pushed it, but he couldn’t avoid it forever. Even if they had good managers in place to manage the day-to-day work, they still eventually had to do their part as board members.

“The conglomerate often issues angel loans as a way to make a connection with promising new companies. It’s something Kisame started a couple of years ago,” Itachi told him, “While it doesn’t have the insane returns of venture capital funding, it’s much less risky and still decently profitable. In addition, they still think of us first if they want to exit with an acquisition. He just mentioned that he was thinking about getting into entertainment. Your gaming company should be a good start.”

Sasuke hesitated. Itachi could see that he still instinctively rejected the idea of being in debt to the conglomerate for anything, so he added deliberately, “Of course, for your ideal scenario, you would need some collateral to get the loan you want…. Your half of the trust should be plenty.”

The trust had been the private assets their parents left them upon their untimely death. While the bulk of it was the shares in the conglomerate that Sasuke refused to touch, there were still sufficient dividends, cash, and other investments that either of them could’ve lived comfortably if not lavishly for the rest of their life.

Itachi knew his brother. Sasuke wasn’t going to lose the money, but even if he did, using his trust as the collateral would let him walk away from it without feeling like he owed the conglomerate anything. It was a good deal all around.

 _Maybe this way he’ll actually want to pay attention to the family business._ Itachi watched Sasuke consider it, but knew he’d agree to it sooner rather than later. The kid was too arrogant to think he’d lose the money in the first place.

Sure enough, Sasuke nodded, “I’ll contact Kisame then.”

Itachi quirked a small smile, “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Oh shut up,” Sasuke scowled at him. He was about to get up from the sofa to let Itachi go back to his marking, when he stopped. Surprised, Itachi looked up at him with a question in his eyes. Sasuke looked like he was wrestling with something before he finally opened his mouth.

“Are you… disappointed that I’m working on games?” Sasuke asked hesitantly, “And not academia or security like you? Or on the company?”

“No,” Itachi smiled gently at him.

“Do you… think Otou-san and Okaa-san would have been disappointed?”

Itachi hesitated, “They would have understood… eventually. You can’t live for the dead, Sasuke.” He wasn’t going to lie to his brother, but he didn’t want to discourage him, either.

The corners of Sasuke’s mouth tightened, but unexpectedly his mouth then quirked up in a little grin, “Yeah.” 

“You know, I can smooth your way with Kisame,” Itachi offered, changing the subject when he remembered something, “If you do something for me. Something you should be doing anyways.”

Sasuke eyed him a bit suspiciously.

Itachi smiled, “The computer science students association is looking for more volunteers for the resume feedback session at the end of the term. It’s a good chance to give back to the university for the last time, before you graduate.”

Sasuke glared at his brother, but they both knew if he went straight to Kisame, Kisame would give him a hard time about not working for the conglomerate and starting his own company instead. Itachi was probably the only one who could make Kisame shut up. After weighing the pros and cons, Sasuke finally nodded. “But don’t tell anyone I’m going to be there.”

Itachi winced when he remembered the last campus event that’d used Sasuke’s presence as an advertising trick, “OK.” Even he’d been nearly trampled by the stampede of fangirls. 

“I’m going to head back to the dorm to discuss this with the others,” Sasuke decided, picking up his laptop bag near the door, “I’ll sleep there while we work out all the kinks, don’t expect me for a while.”

“OK,” Itachi followed, walking him to the door. Just before Sasuke turned to leave, Itachi poked him in the forehead with two fingers, “Go safely.”

Sasuke was already used to the odd little gesture because he only nodded in acquiescence as he turned to leave. Just before Itachi shut the door on him, though, Sasuke turned back around and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He then left faculty housing at a brisk clip.

Frowning, Itachi watched him go. _Didn’t he just say he was staying at the dorms for a while? He can’t think the angel loan will only take a day to settle, right?_ He didn’t dwell on it, though. This little interlude had seriously eaten into his marking time, and Itachi had to get a move on if he was going to have these marks uploaded for the elective class he was teaching tomorrow.

All alone in the house now and newly equipped with a fresh cup of chamomile tea, he put the chessboard back in its usual place under the coffee table to make room for his marking. Itachi picked up the assignment that he’d stopped marking at. He’d carelessly left it on top of the pile when he’d been interrupted.

_Let’s see… Haruno Sakura-san eh?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what kind of face Itachi would make if he knew Sasuke's ulterior motive??
> 
> A couple of things this chapter - More worldbuilding, more backstory, and more plot? But what about the ships, my dear reader? To that I say... tune in next week, it gon be good hehehehe. Also, it's kind of hard to write Itachi without the killing all the Uchihas plot point? Also, the business major in me is cringing at all the liberties I took with describing new company creation, conglomerates, and angel loans (they don't actually exist, angel investments are always equity transactions, but PLOT, so oh well), but at the end of the day, it's just a story. My apologies for the late update - Reglee (my amazing beta) and I both had work and summer vacation where the timing just did not work out. But we should be back to our regular schedule soon! Anyways, thanks for your patience and thanks for stopping by! As always, comments, reviews, favourites, kudos, subs, and little dancing men (Holmes, not... midgets? idk guys) always make my day. See you next time!


	21. Class

No one knew where the whisper started. At first, no one knew if it was true.

_Who?! Where? Not THE Uchiha-senpai?_

By the time someone confirmed the rumour in a post to the forums, it was already too late. They could only curse that they didn’t have faith in the beginning.

_Uchiha-senpai is auditing an open class!_

_Ahhh that pink-haired girl sitting beside Uchiha-senpai is so lucky!_

**ε=ε=ε==(っ≧ω≦)っ(っ≧ω≦)っ(っ≧ω≦)っ**

**__** _Pens, check. Notebook, check. Notes from last week and this week’s reading? Check._

_Attractive young professor?_ Sakura looked up at the lectern, then looked around the sparsely populated, compact lecture hall. _Not yet._ Then again, it was still a solid 20 minutes before class.

She wasn’t just taking the class because Professor Uchiha was the teacher. It was a really interesting class, even if it was a bit niche. They’d followed the development of codes and code-breaking over time, and worked through the proofs and algorithms as they understood the historical context it was developed under. Sakura enjoyed the new take on the material, and it filled the arts requirement in her graduation requirements quite nicely. The handsome professor was only a nice perk.

She started to flip through last week’s notes since she didn’t know anyone else in this small class. She hadn’t actually written down the mathematical process for the RSA algorithm and had instead marked it as a “come back to it later” section. Professor Uchiha had only briefly mentioned the algorithm last class, with in-depth analysis to follow this class.

Annoyed at herself, Sakura pulled up the algorithm on her phone and started reading it, but she pretty quickly got confused by the modularity notation, so she had to keep going back to her notes from the first class to figure out how the four steps tied together. 

She was so engrossed, she didn’t look up when someone on her left asked in a low tone, “Is anyone sitting here?”

“Nope, go ahead!” Sakura replied absent-mindedly. still struggling with understanding the proofs involving modular equivalence. It was a different way of thinking about proofs, especially to someone who was used to normal mathematical equivalence. The person who asked the question seemed to hesitate for a moment before they sat down, but Sakura didn’t look up even once. Even the rising whispers and rustling in the class didn’t distract her from her train of thought.

 _Darn it, what was that remainder theorem called again? The reason coprimality is so important..._ Sakura frowned when she reached the decryption step. She wanted to flip back in her notes to find the part where Professor Uchiha had laid the groundwork for this algorithm but found that someone had put an elbow on her notebook. 

_That’s so rude,_ she scowled. The lecture hall was a bit small, but there were so few students, so it usually wasn’t an issue. Even if the hall was full, a bit of elbow overlap was understandable, but this girl had managed to put her elbow right in the middle of Sakura’s small writing space so she could stare at something or someone. Sakura tugged hard at the pages a couple of times, hoping the other person would get the message and _move_. Unfortunately, chin in hand, the red-haired girl sitting on Sakura’s right was entirely engrossed with whatever she was looking at.

The red-haired girl didn’t even notice as her elbow slid off the desk until it was too late. She slid right across the table, knocked off her own square glasses, and fell into Sakura, who toppled over like a domino. 

Right into the person who’d asked if the seat beside her was free.

 _Shannaro! What the hell is wrong with this girl?!_ Sakura was caught by surprise as she thumped her head against a hard male chest. _Urgh, this is so embarrassing!_

“Are you okay?” That low voice asked. Someone helped her right herself as the red-haired girl scrambled out of Sakura’s lap to retrieve her glasses, thoroughly embarrassed.

“Yes, thank you-,” Rubbing her head, Sakura turned her head to properly thank the person who’d helped her up and then froze when she saw who it was. Her eyes went wide as she saw a very familiar handsome face.

_Oh wow, Uchiha-senpai is pretty._

From this close, Sakura could see the tiny crease between his brows and was enveloped by the clean, masculine scent of soap. She knew the finely sculpted features - she saw them often in her dreams. Usually, at this point in her dream, she’d lean forward and steal a kiss from those thin, slightly chapped lips.

But then Sakura realized this was not a dream 

And that she was staring like a lovesick tween.

At the real Uchiha-senpai.

_…_

_…_

_…_

_Oh._

_Oh no._

_No way_

_Someone just kill me now!!!!! SHANNARO!_

_Of all the people I had to embarrass myself in front of, why did it have to be Uchiha-senpai?!_

Anything else she might’ve thought was swallowed in humiliation. A flush crept up from her collar, so she just nodded in thanks to Uchiha-senpai then pretended to be engrossed in her notes. For some reason, though, she could still feel his eyes on her.

 _Of course he’s looking at the weirdo who crashed into him and then avoided him as awkwardly as humanly possible! Shannaro!_ Sakura couldn’t help it. She slowly brought the book to stand straight on the desk and buried her now-cherry red face behind it like an ostrich.

Sakura didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. But since she was still in class, the only thing she could do was calm her racing heart and make herself look presentable before class started.

There she was sitting RIGHT beside her idol. She could’ve taken the 10 minutes before class to introduce herself and talk to him like a normal human being. She could’ve made a good connection! They could have been friends! Colleagues, at least!

Instead, she fell into his lap and stared at him in a daze, like a tweenie over her favourite teen idol.

Just as brainless as that girl he’d ignored on the street.

Sakura really wanted to hide under her desk for the rest of the class.

**(╥ω╥)**

Itachi was more than a little confused when he found a crowd in front of the door for his History of Encryption class, but they all scrambled out of his way when they saw him coming, so he didn’t think much of it. When he went in, though, he almost stopped in shock.

His class was… full?

On the first day of this obscure little elective course, the small auditorium had been half-full at best. As the semester had just passed the mid-term mark and the course drop deadline, and since this class wasn’t the filler class some students expected, barely a third of the seats were filled on a good day. Seeing every seat filled and a couple of people sitting in the aisles was… novel.

Then he glanced where most people were gawking, staring, or pretending not to look, at an aisle seat in the left section, three rows from the front. And smirked.

_So that’s what Sasuke meant by ‘see you tomorrow’._

Chuckling to himself, Itachi finally reached the podium and set up his PowerPoint for today’s lecture. He took his sweet time setting up, and as he did, he observed the situation in his abnormally well-attended class.

His baby brother always drew a crowd, even if he pretended to be aloof from the world. Watching this phenomenon always amused Itachi - something about the emotionally constipated expression appealed to girls. It made Itachi wonder about the tastes of youths these days. He’d never had this problem as an undergraduate. Then again, he’d been 12.

 _I wonder why Sasuke’s here…_ Since class was about to start though, Itachi filed the question for later.

“Alright everyone, settle down and we’ll get started,” Itachi called, making the whispering and rustling subside. He clasped his hands together with a bit of an evil smile, “Today’s lecture is a continuation of where we left off last class, so before we get started, I’m going to ask one of you a few questions to recap the reading I assigned after last class.”

At his words, a nervous titter ran through the room, and most students started ducking their heads to avoid his eyes. Itachi’s smile widened, “How about…,” his eyes fell on his little brother, but instead of meeting Sasuke’s eyes, he saw that Sasuke had glanced at the person beside him. That person was possibly the only one in the lecture hall not looking at his little brother, covertly or overtly, because they were hiding behind an open notebook propped up on their desk. _How interesting..._

“This classmate, hiding behind the notebook beside the young man in the navy sweater. The third row,” Itachi called upon them. A muffled giggle rippled through the lecture hall, along with a collective sigh of relief.

He nearly laughed out loud when he watched the girl with pink hair emerge from behind her notebook and nearly jump out of her seat when she realized that the professor was calling on her. Judging by her red face and stiff posture, Itachi almost felt bad for springing this on her.

Almost.

“In the past few months, certain companies have declared that they’ve achieved quantum supremacy. How does that affect the topic from last week’s class?” Itachi asked.

It really wasn’t a fair question, since quantum computing had only been a tiny blurb in the assigned reading. Itachi expected consternation, confusion, or even maybe panic before he put the student out of their misery, but the student he’d called on just took a second to consider her response before she started to answer.

“Last class we discussed the RSA Algorithm, which is still a widely used encryption technique. The RSA algorithm uses sufficiently large coprime numbers to secure the data, which makes it easy to decode a message if you have the private key, but practically impossible to brute force the data if you don’t have the key,” The student his brother had been looking at spoke clearly but confidently. _Tch, my bad luck that Haruno-san was the student hiding behind the book. If anyone could answer this question, it would be her._ Still, Itachi was impressed by her calmness, and judging by the way Sasuke turned to watch her with a raised eyebrow, his little brother was too. 

She continued, “Quantum supremacy indicates that a quantum computer has solved a problem in real-time that would have taken a normal supercomputer an impractical amount of time, so if it’s truly achieved, modern encryption would become useless. All of our most sensitive data could be laid bare to bad actors, like passwords or bank data.”

Itachi smiled broadly, “So are you getting ready to take your money out of the bank and stuff it under your mattress now?”

“I’d only need a pillow for my wealth, professor,” She joked back with a smile, “But in all seriousness, expert opinion is still that the engineering challenges involved in quantum computing are insurmountable. Some experts claim that the problem in question would only take two and a half days to solve using a supercomputer.”

“So do you think researchers are wasting their time?” Itachi raised an eyebrow. He ignored the sharp glance his brother sent him. _A bit protective, is he? He knows this is a trick question because quantum computer proof encryption is my field of research._

“No, of course not,” Haruno in the hot seat responded before his brother could try and shield her. She looked at him straight in the eye with a bit of a knowing smile, “Knowledge is always worth pursuing, even if it isn’t immediately useful. For example, the theory behind colour TV existed years before the technology did. It’s better to be prepared than to regret later, especially when it comes to encryption.”

Itachi smiled again and applauded the student briefly, “Excellent answers, Ms. Haruno, thank you. As expected of one of our department’s scholarship students. You can sit down now.” 

Itachi turned to begin his lecture proper when he paused and teased the rest of the class, “Your classmates are very lucky you were here to answer the questions. I hope you don’t regret chasing beauty to come today because today we continue with an example of how the RSA algorithm is applied…”

**___〆(・∀・)(￣∀￣) (－ω－) zzZ**

“That’s it for today, everyone, thanks for showing up,” Professor Uchiha wrapped up his lecture with a breezy smile, “It was nice to see so many new faces in the audience today. I hope to see many of you next week as well - I just can’t guarantee the same lovely view.”

A ripple of laughter ran through the full lecture hall as people started to put things away. Sakura didn’t laugh, though. Still dazed, she thought, _but Professor Uchiha’s only in his late 20s to early 30s and still pretty hot! What does he mean, can’t guarantee the same view? Shannaro!_

Then her brain processed the first part of his statement. Sakura froze. And looked down at her notes for the class.

They were totally empty.

_SHANNARO!_

Sakura had been so focused on trying to ignore Uchiha-senpai and not act like a total nincompoop in front of him that she hadn’t written a word down all class. _Now I’m going to have to go through the lecture slides and go to the professor’s office hours. I hope Professor Uchiha doesn't realize why…_ Annoyed at herself, Sakura started shoving her stuff into her bag before she could embarrass herself any more.

She got up to leave but realized… There was no way to get out. The red-haired girl who’d dumped her onto Uchiha-senpai’s lap had packed up but was just openly staring at him. In fact, now that Sakura was looking around, she felt a bit like a fish in a bowl, because she could swear nearly every person in the room was whispering about, staring at, or sneakily trying to take pictures of the campus heartthrob sitting on her other side.

 _Well, the red-haired girl’s not moving any time soon_. Sakura gathered up her bag and her courage and turned towards Uchiha-senpai.

No response. He was still leisurely browsing through the textbook in his hand.

 _C’mon, move your attractive ass so I can get out of here!_ Sakura tried to tell him telepathically. She tried clearing her throat to get his attention. _I really hope I don’t actually have to say anything to him_. _I’m practically going to have to do surgery to get my foot out of my mouth as it is._

“You want to leave?” That low, husky voice asked mildly.

Sakura nodded emphatically.

Since she was looking down, she didn’t see the look on his face, but she did see his jeans-clad legs slowly turn to the other side and get out of the seat. _Shannaro! What a relief. Now all I have to do is not trip over his feet_. He was wearing rather spotless white sneakers today.

Just as she was about to finally make her escape, though. Sakura realized something. _I can’t just run away from him. He’ll think you’re totally demented,_ Sakura scolded herself. For the life of her, she couldn’t force herself to turn back to look at him, but she at least mustered up a short sentence.

“Thank you.”

And then she escaped.

**ε=ε=ε=┌( >_<)┘**

**[Party] SharpandPointy:** Man, I can’t believe I didn’t get to keep Jidanda  
**[Party] SharpandPointy:** I can’t even acquire it anywhere else  
**[Party] SharpandPointy:** Boooooo what a tease  
**[Party] Spinfan96:** Tease?  
**[Party] SharpandPointy:** Like a…  
**[Party] Spinfan96:** ?  
**[Party] SharpandPointy:** … you know what nevermind  
**[Party] SharpandPointy:** So what did you think of OldRamenMan  
**[Party] Spinfan96:** …  
**[Party] Spinfan96:** Annoying  
**[Party] Spinfan96:** But he understands the game very well.  
**[Party] Spinfan96:** Although I prefer doing missions with Chun_Lee  
**[Party] Spinfan96:** or even just the two of us once we no longer need a mentor

Tenten paused, not sure how to answer that. _Do people flirt in online games?_ She quickly dismissed the thought - she’d never even met Spinfan anyways. _I’m probably being too sensitive._

 **[Party] SharpandPointy:** I like playing with you guys too!  
**[Party] SharpandPointy:** Same time next week?  
**[Party] SharpandPointy:** This time works better for me  
**[Party] SharpandPointy:** and CL should be free next week too  
**[Party] Spinfan96:** Yes  
**[Party] Spinfan96:** This time is more convenient for me as well  
**[Party] SharpandPointy:** Okeydokey! See you then!

Just as she signed off, Sakura burst through the door of the dorm like a ton of bricks. Tenten nearly jumped out of her seat. Hinata wasn’t much better off - she nearly dumped her steaming hot milk tea all over herself.

“You will never guess who just sat next to me in class,” Sakura announced before either of them could ask her what hellhound was chasing her.

“A god? A devil? Uchiha-senpai?” Tenten asked sarcastically.

Sakura frantically nodded her head at Tenten, still a bit out of breath, “Yes!”

“I-It’s not nice to call people devils, Sakura-chan,” Hinata admonished.

“No! Well, maybe all three,” Sakura paused, but then shook her head before she could confuse them even more, “Uchiha-senpai! I sat next to Uchiha-senpai in class!”

“Wait seriously?” Tenten goggled, “You didn’t fall asleep in class, did you?”

“No! I was in Professor Uchiha’s elective class! I would never fall asleep in his class!” Sakura protested.

“That’s ‘cause you’re too busy drooling over the professor,” Tenten muttered, “Did you take any pictures? Pics or it didn’t happen!”

“I haven’t replaced my phone yet, remember?” Sakura scowled at her, “But it happened! I totally embarrassed myself in front of him, and now need to find a hole to bury myself in for the rest of the semester.”

“I-I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” Hinata soothed her.

Tenten had gone straight to the forums and easily found the post right at the top of the page. She started laughing as she scrolled through it, “Oh, it’s something. Oh my god, Saku-chan, I can’t believe you fell right into Uchiha-senpai’s lap!”

“It’s on the forums?!” Sakura rushed over, Hinata was right behind her, and the three of them crowded around Tenten’s laptop. As Tenten scrolled through the many different pictures of Uchiha-senpai looking indifferent, they also caught glimpses of Sakura studiously looking at her notes in the background. Then they got to more pictures of what Tenten was forever going to call “Sakura’s big swan dive” and her bright red face afterwards.

Sakura gave them the rundown of exactly what happened, making Tenten laugh even harder. Hinata couldn’t stifle her amusement, either, especially when Sakura told them about how she’d run away at the end of the class.

“You guys suck,” Sakura sulked at them, but Tenten could tell from how her shoulders loosened that she was starting to see the humour in how absurd the whole encounter was.

“Sorry, sorry, Saku-chan,” Tenten grinned, still laughing, “Look on the bright side, at least Uchiha-senpai must have some kind of impression of you now. I bet not many girls fall into his arms and don’t talk to him at all. Too bad you missed a prime chance to make him fall in love with you.”

“Hey, I wasn’t totally mute!” Sakura joked, “I said ‘nope!’, ‘yes’’ and ‘thank you’ to him. That’s something, right?”

“So eloquent. I’m sure he’ll be over to propose any day now,” Tenten teased her right back. The three of them burst out laughing.

If Tenten had scrolled to the last picture in the ridiculously long forum post, she might've actually meant that joke. That last picture showed Sakura running away after class and caught the look on Uchiha-senpai's face as he watched her go. If she looked very closely, she could see a certain softness in his eyes and on his lips, a tiny, devastating smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler alert, Tenten, he already has! Hehehe
> 
> So this chapter is for everyone who wanted them to meet in person... love me or hate me right now? I'll have you know that I went back and dug into my traumatic University memories to write this chapter (I hated CO classes), so I hope you all enjoyed learning a bit about encryption and quantum computing. Also, anyone catch the Karin cameo this chapter? For those of you who are keeping track, we're about the end of the fifth episode of the drama. Thank you to Reglee, my amazing Beta, and extra notes on Tumblr per usual. As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, subscriptions, and lots and lots of spam devoted to my fics (Shoutout to Ink7blot who made my month by flooding my inbox last week) always make my day. Thanks for stopping by, and see you again soon!
> 
> PS: 19


	22. I'm Not Him

As soon as Sasuke saw her in the library, he knew he wasn’t getting any more work done today.

 _She just had to find a seat right across from me._ He definitely wasn’t looking for her. But he’d noticed her. And she just had to sit right there, facing straight towards him. If it hadn’t been for the one-way privacy glass installed in the study room door, they could’ve stared right at each other.

In his defense, pink was a very distracting colour. So were shining green eyes.

Sasuke continued watching as Sakura pulled out her laptop and the notebook she’d been carrying in his brother’s class and started studying. _She must be catching up on the notes she didn’t make last class._ He smirked when he saw her scratch her head with a pen, making a face at the screen. _She probably reached the slide that says “the proof is left as an exercise for the student”._

That had been when he'd noticed she wasn't paying any attention in class. Up until then, besides the awkward interlude where she’d fallen right into his lap, she’d casually ignored his existence. Sitting in Itachi’s class that day, Sasuke, who had never before been conscious of his effect on other people, experienced an unusual feeling. He’d later identified it as disappointment.

Until she didn’t even twitch when Itachi left one tricky proof as an example for the students to figure out themselves. And it was fair game for the final essay. Everyone else who’d actually been part of the class had grumbled loudly, but Sakura stayed still as a statue.

At that moment, Sasuke couldn’t help glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

And then he noticed she hadn’t taken any notes all lecture.

That finally made him smile a little inside. Maybe it was a bit conceited to think that she was conscious of him at that moment, but with her reaction after class when she’d run away from him like a scared bunny, he was nearly certain of it.

Nearly.

As he watched her try to work her way through this proof, though, a small twinge of regret pricked his conscience. _I probably shouldn’t distract her in class anymore. I’ll have to think of another way to approach her_. Even if her annoyed and frustrated expressions were vastly entertaining.

He actually let out a small pfft of laughter when he saw her slowly bang her head against the table.

_Why is she so entertaining to watch?_

Thinking he’d watched her for long enough, though, Sasuke shook himself, ready to refocus on his work, when a certain file he’d been working on over the past few days in his precious few moments of spare time caught his eye.

The responsible side of him fought a brief battle with his self-indulgent side.

_This would be an opportunity…_

When he saw Sakura put her head down on her desk in defeat, his self-indulgent side squashed his responsible side like a bug.

Sasuke opened up Way, and used the in-game email function to send the link to the file.

**(¬‿¬ ) ヽ(`⌒´メ)ノ**

**__**_I'm going to find whichever professor first said 'The proof is left as an exercise for the student' and tear up their life's work in front of their face!_ Sakura promised the tabletop in front of her face. She resisted the urge to swear loudly, since she was still in the library, even if it was mostly deserted. She couldn’t afford to break another table, either.

Just before she could gather her nerves for another attempt at this proof, a new email caught her eye. It was forwarded from Way’s in-game email. Curious, because no one ever used this service unsolicited, Sakura opened it up. It was from Sm1rkMeister.

_The video’s done. Take a look when you have time._

A link followed. _Our video’s done!_ Unable to resist her curiosity, Sakura plugged in her headphones and clicked the link.

The title screen flashed, and Sakura was a bit surprised by the production quality. _Did he hire a video editor for this?_ She’d originally offered to do the editing. Sm1rkMeister was in his last year of University, so she’d assumed he’d be busy with his job search and graduation requirements. Besides, she’d been the one who’d come up with the idea in the first place.

But he’d insisted, and seeing the professional quality of the title screen now, she was kind of glad he did.

“On Living,” Sakura murmured the title out loud to herself. _Oh, now I see why he had me voice act that line._ The romantic twang of the zither with the haunting ring of chimes softly played through her earbuds as it faded to black. Surprised, Sakura stared. This was the music near the eye of heaven and the Magpie bridge, where the marriage altar was. _But we didn’t film anywhere near that! He switched up the bgm… actually it works pretty well._

She soon forgot about the music, though, when the image of two children avatars sitting in a meadow appeared on the screen. _Ahhh the child version of Meister’s avatar is the cutest! I just want to squish his cheeks. I’m glad I found a use for that transforming potion_. Her avatar looked pretty adorable too, with the pink hair and the large green eyes that were currently overflowing with tears.

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Who are you?   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** This is my secret place   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Go away!   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:**...   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I said go away   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:**...

Chibi Meister walked away. Little Sakura buried her head back into her arms and continued to weep

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You weren’t really supposed to go away…

 _Hehe I make a pretty cute Tsundere,_ Sakura grinned to herself. Chibi Meister soon came back, though, a beautiful red lily in his hand. He offered it to her character.

 **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:**...   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** huh?   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:**...   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Is that for me?   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:**...   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** ...Thank you   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:**...

Chibi Meister turned to leave but little Sakura reached out and grabbed his hand.

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Wait! Don’t go   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** What’s your name?   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I’m Sakura   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:**...   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Huh?   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Can you not speak?   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister nods   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** ...Oh…   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I’m sorry   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Can you stay a little longer?   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:**...

Chibi Meister sat back down, next to her as Little Sakura continued to cry, red lily in hand.

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** My… my mommy and daddy went away   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Nobody wants me anymore   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Now I live in an orphanage   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** And I don’t have any friends

Sakura winced a bit at her own writing. _Kids are hard to write, okay? These avatars look like 10, how do I remember what I sounded like when I was that young?_

Still, Chibi Meister did a good job acting. He took a handkerchief and lifted her face, gently wiping the tears away. Sakura was pretty impressed by the variety of emotes the game had. She barely scratched the surface in her normal gameplay. Then again, she had to wonder about the kind of dev who put them into the game.

 **[Here] Tournesola:** Smirk!   
**[Here] Tournesola:** Time for dinner!   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Is that your mom?   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister nods   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister gets up   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Will you come back again?   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:**...   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister nods   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Promise?

Little Sakura stretched out her hand to make Chibi Meister pinkie swear. Chibi Meister stared at her hand, as if he didn’t know what to do with it, until he slowly offered his hand and hooked his pinkie with hers. Then he ran away.

Sakura was once again impressed by the quality of Meister’s editing - In order to make emotes with multiple players involved, both players had to accept the action, but that kind of ruined the immersion of the story. He managed to cut and edit it perfectly, though, so that the system message asking for consent never appeared. It looked seamless. _I wonder how much he paid the editor._

Trying to keep her laughter at a minimum, Sakura watched as a montage of their chibi characters growing up. The accompanying cheery music as the background music from the beginner area. The two played together in the meadow together, watched the sunset and the stars and the moon, and they even ate in the kitchen together, with Hinata’s avatar watching over them in the farmhouse kitchen. _I have to admit, I’m glad Meister shelled out for that apron skin for Hinata-chan. It looks great with that character._ When the montage music abruptly stopped, and focused in on Meister as a young adult, doing a practice kata in the same meadow, Sakura couldn’t help but tense since she knew what was coming.

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Sm1rk!

Meister’s avatar stopped what he was doing and turned to the direction where her avatar was coming up the hill. She wasn’t sure how he managed it, but the camera panned in on his avatar’s expression, which softened for a minute. With the sunset behind him, it practically screamed “man waiting for his beloved.” When Sakura’s avatar arrived beside him with her giant picnic basket, though, he’d been back to his stony blank face.

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You must be tired. I brought lunch!   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister nods   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I haven’t done my training kata either today   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Can you take a look at my form?   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister raises an eyebrow   
**[Here]** SakuraBlossom makes puppy dog eyes at Sm1rkMeister   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister looks unimpressed at SakuraBlossom   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister pokes SakuraBlossom’s forehead   
**[Here]** SakuraBlossom scowls at Sm1rkMeister   
**[Here]** SakuraBlossom pouts at Sm1rkMeister   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister sighs   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister nods   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Thank you!

Her character got up and started a very basic Kata, with a couple of purposeful fumbles thrown in. Sakura watched, her heart melting a little as Meister put down his sandwich and came over to help her correct her form. His arms ended up wrapped around her body as he adjusted her hips. She turned to look at him, and the music changed to something softer and more poignant as their character stared at each other, the moment suspended in time. _It’s the wedding music!_

 **[Here]** SakuraBlossom blushes   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Eat first, don’t stop for me   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Training comes second   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** It’s not like we’re going to be leaving the village to roam the way of the Ninja, anyways   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** ?   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I mean, don’t get me wrong. it would be fun   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** But what I really want is very simple   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Raising some animals and growing some crops   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Maybe a couple dogs   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** A family   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** A warm home   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I just need to be strong enough to protect those who I love   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** ...

Meister reaching behind his back, a perfect red lily suddenly appearing in his hand. He reached for her avatar’s hand, but before they made contact, a loud explosion stopped the sweet music dead.

They both turned to look, identical expressions of horror on their faces. In the distance, they could both make out a burning farmhouse. Dead silence, and then Meister’s expression contorted into a silent scream. The lily dropped out of Meister’s hand, and he ran. Sakura followed him, and the camera panned on her stepping on the lily. The screen faded to black, and a voice shouted “Meister!”, as if far, far in the distance.

 _Ahh hearing my own voice recorded is always weird, even if it is distorted,_ Sakura winced. _Then again, I was the one who suggested some voice acting._ Thinking of voice acting, though, she frowned when she remembered the other lines she’d recorded. _Where’d those go?_

Before she could rewind, though, her favourite scene came on. Meister stood in front of a gravestone, a travel pack over his bag. A full bouquet of lilies lay on the grave in front of him. He looked like he was about to go, but all of a sudden, someone called out from behind him.

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Sm1rk!   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** What are you doing?   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** …   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You…   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You aren’t leaving are you?   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** No!   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You can’t leave!

Sakura’s avatar hugged him tightly from behind two. A trail of tears flowed down her face.

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You’ve never left the village!   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You can’t just go roam the Way of the Ninja like this!   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You’re barely more than a child!

Meister’s avatar broke free of her hold, and pulled away. Sakura’s character still cried.

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I know you blame me for keeping you away from home   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Maybe you could’ve saved your mother from those bandits if you’d been there   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** But she wouldn’t want you to lose yourself in revenge!   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Living is hard, but we must live on, for our loved ones and for ourselves   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Don’t leave me behind…   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** At least take me with you!   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I love you

Sakura hadn’t noticed this when they were filming, but she was pretty impressed by the expressions on Meister’s face. It contorted in a mask of pain, then he closed his eyes, and finally looked away from her, like he’d made a decision.

His avatar turned back around, grabbed her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes. The background music began to play over the scene. It was the same motif as the earlier romantic music, but in a sombre minor key. Sakura recognized it as the theme that played as a couple was getting divorced. _I hadn’t noticed it was the same motif when Fries and I were getting divorced a few months ago. That’s so good!_

Instead of saying anything, though, Meister poked on her the forehead like he had when they were little. When Sakura’s character looked confused, his avatar leaned in as if to kiss her, and the music hit a bright note for just a minute as Sakura avatar’s eyes fluttered closed.

Sakura put her fist to her mouth like she was holding in a squeal. _Yes! This moment!_ Then she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard some voice acting as their avatars stared at each other.

_“Sakura… thank you… and goodbye”_

_SHANNARO! IS THAT MEISTER’S REAL VOICE?!_ Sakura nearly freaked out, but she quickly calmed down her overheated brain. _No, he must have run it through a voice modifier. Still, it’s pretty sexy. And… maybe kind of familiar? No, you must be imagining it, Sakura. Get your act together! Still, it’s a great place for some voice acting._

Tears actually pooled at the corners of her eyes when Meister’s hand came down and knocked her character out. Her fist pressed harder against her lips as Meister placed her on the bench nearby, and he leaned back to take one last look at her avatar. Her eyes actually leaked a bit as his character leaned down and softly kissed her forehead, then leaned in even closer for a moment, his eyes screwed up in pain. In that moment, Sakura could almost feel his forehead against hers and his breath intermingled with hers.

And then he got up, left the village, and the screen faded to black around his lonely back.

_Urgh, so cruel, but so good! Shannaro! I’m still in the library!_ Sakura quickly mopped up the corners of her eyes with a tissue. The tone of the music picked up again, and she smiled again as the montage of Meister chasing the bandits ensued.

Meister tracked them down, but time and time again, the bandits, played by Old Man, Wulf and RolloutBoy, always managed to escape in some way shape or form. The flow of time was represented by title cards counting up the years that had passed since Meister left the village. Sakura was soon trying to suppress her giggles, even though the fights were epic, because all the hijinks and goofs the guys had done while they were filming this bit came through on the screen. _They’re all really good at PVPing too_ , Sakura mused as she watched one particularly epic escape over a waterfall. The mood slowly turned more and more sombre, though, as Meister became more and more aggressive, more and more dismissive of human life, and first Wulf, then RolloutBoy, and finally Old Man were killed off.

Seven years later, as Meister stood over Old Man as he took his dying breaths, one last scrap of dialogue played.

 **[Here] OldRamenMan:** You...   
**[Here] OldRamenMan:** Damn mute avenger   
**[Here] OldRamenMan:** Finally caught up to us…   
**[Here] OldRamenMan:** Fine…   
**[Here] OldRamenMan:** I’m ready to die.   
**[Here] OldRamenMan:** But are you?   
**[Here] OldRamenMan:** Or are you already a walking dead man?

Sakura shuddered and covered her eyes as Meister’s avatar cut his throat. The look in his eyes was inscrutable as the screen faded to black around him.

The next scene showed Meister limping up the road where he’d left that day seven years ago. The music playing in the background had the same motifs as the cheerful music of the newbie town, but its cadence was much slower and softer, like it’d been worn away by the flow of time. He stopped at the bench he’d left Sakura’s avatar on. He didn’t stop for too long, though and instead made a beeline for a building with several little children npcs playing outside, when someone else called out to him from the blacksmith’s forge nearby.

 **[Here] SharpandPointy:** Hey!   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Aren’t you Tournesola’s boy?   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** The one who left the village seven years ago?

Meister walked towards the blacksmith and nodded.

 **[Here] SharpandPointy:** Welcome back!  
 **[Here] SharpandPointy:** We’d thought you died!   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** After Sakura… well   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister panics   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister grabbed SharpandPointy’s shoulders   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Hey, hey, easy there!   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Hold your horses, I’ll tell you what happened   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Sit down, boy

They sat.

 **[Here] SharpandPointy:** It happened a couple years after you left   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** She’s a pretty girl   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** And we’d all assumed that you two… well   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** So no one made a move on her for a while   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Until…   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Well, everyone thought you were dead   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** You never bothered to come back, see   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** So…   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Some men came around courting   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Some of them were polite, and some weren’t   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** And then one day, she just up and left   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** The last we’d heard of her, she’d left to roam the Way of the Ninja   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** And then…   
**[Here]** SharpandPointy wipes their tears   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** word came back   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** That she’d died   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** At the hands of the Black Lily

Meister’s avatar stood up abruptly, fury on his face.

 **[Here] SharpandPointy:** Where are you going?   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Hey Sm1rk?!   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Hey!

But he was already gone.

The camera panned to a dark, dank inn, where a female avatar dressed in a risque leather costume and a silver mask sat at her desk. All of a sudden, she stopped and looked up.

 **[Here] Th3DarkLily:** I see you’ve killed most of my guards   
**[Here] Th3DarkLily:** You might as well come out now   
**[Here] Th3DarkLily:** I’ve never been shy about courting death

Meister’s avatar appeared from underneath a cloak of stealth

 **[Here] Th3DarkLily:** Wh-what?   
**[Here] Th3DarkLily:** You!

In her moment of shock, he drew his sword and rammed it into her heart. No fuss, no fancy moves, just a straight assassination. The Dark Lily slumped to the floor. Meister was about to turn away, when she spoke her dying words

 **[Here] Th3DarkLily:** Meister…

The camera captured that moment of horror on his face perfectly as he turned back around, and pulled the mask off her face and her pink hair and green eyes reappeared. Sakura could actually see his hands shaking as he touched her eyes, already dull in death. Meister slumped, bowed over by grief, and the music faded to silence as tears flowed down his face and the screen faded to black once more.

Sakura expected the next scene to be on sunset hill, with a final short but tragic montage of Meister jumping off the cliff holding her dead body, but noticed that the video still had several minutes to go. Curious, she watched as the scene opened to the village again, back at the gravestone of Meister’s mother. This time, however, there were two gravestones.

 **[Here] SharpandPointy:** Oh! Meister. You’re here   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** It was nice of you to erect a gravestone for Sakura   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** She’d have liked that   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** …

He turned to leave.

 **[Here] SharpandPointy:** Hey! One more thing, since you’re here   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** By the way, I found something when I was cleaning up my forge the other day   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Here   
**[Here]** SharpandPointy has given Sm1rkMeister a simple wedding band   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** The one you commissioned from me all those years ago   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Before… well, before your mother died   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** She’d have liked to know that you’d meant to ask her to marry you   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Maybe now, you can learn to forgive yourself   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** And move on   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** She’d have wanted you to   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** They both would   
**[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** …   
**[Here]** Sm1rkMeister nods to SharpandPointy   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Bye!   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** Honestly, that boy   
**[Here] SharpandPointy:** He’s basically the walking dead these days

Meister slowly walked back through the village, on the road past the meadows where they’d met. He walked up to the hill where he’d been training on that fateful day so many years ago, where he’d almost confessed to her, and stared around him. Flashbacks of the two of playing together, training together, and falling in love together played. What had once been a heartwarming and fluffy scene became bittersweet as Meister knelt down as if to propose, but the only one there was the empty sky. In defeat, tears started flowing down Meister’s face.

One last flashback played. Sakura’s avatar was looking at the viewer with an innocent and carefree smile.

 **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** It’s not like we’re going to be leaving the village to roam the way of the Ninja, anyways   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I mean, don’t get me wrong. it would be fun   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** But what I really want is very simple   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Raising some animals and growing some crops   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Maybe a couple dogs   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** A family   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** A warm home   
**[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I just need to be strong enough to protect those who I love

The camera showed Meister curled up in the middle of the field, clutching the ring in his hand. As the screen faded to black for the last time, the last piece of voice acting came on. It was her voice, distorted and warped by a voice changer, as if it came from far, far away.

_“Living is hard, but we must live on, for our loved ones and for ourselves.”_

Sakura didn’t snap out of her trance until the first teardrops splashed onto her fingers. She was still in the library, although thankfully the section was now deserted. Even the campus outside was dark, shrouded in night as it was.

 _Shannaro! I can’t believe I’m crying in public!_ Hoping no one saw, she quickly wiped away the tears with the remnants of the tissue she’d been clutching in her hand. She turned off the video without even looking at the credits, and quickly went into the game to talk to Meister. Luckily for her, he was online at the moment.

 **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I watched the video   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** It was so good   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** You changed the ending?   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Yeah   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** It wasn’t long enough   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ?   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Videos over 30 mins get double rewards if they win   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** If we’re going to enter this competition, we might as well go for everything

Sakura flipped back to the Way of the Ninja forums and read the post announcing the contest again, this time paying more attention to the fine print. _It really does say you get double rewards if you win! Huh, Meister sure pays attention to detail._ She checked the run time of their video. 30 minutes and 1 second exactly.

 **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** So you changed the ending to add more flashbacks?   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Yes

 _I can’t believe I bawled my eyes out over filler_ , Sakura grumbled, feeling a bit silly. Still, she shook off that feeling quickly.

 **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Nice   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Should I post it, or do you want to?   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** You do it   
**Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I don’t have a forum account   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Tell me when the results are posted   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Roger that!

Sakura went ahead and posted the link to forum, and pretty soon, the comments started rolling in. The first couple of dozen were either from fans of UWUAmi, who ridiculed her for trying to steal their goddesses’ stage, or lookieloos, who brought up old gossip about the “love-triangle” between her, Fries, and Ami, or her, Meister and Fries. It wasn’t until 20 minutes in that the first comment about the video itself appeared.

_Oh no, I didn’t bring enough tissues for this. WHY DID YOU LEAVE HER ON A BENCH, MEISTER?! SakuraBlossom, you are too cruel! First feed us the fluffy, and now this!? Heartless!_

Sakura snickered. _Wait till she gets to the end._ She flipped back to her game to say goodbye to Meister before she finally left the library. Instead of saying goodbye, though, another question came out in the chat

 **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Meister?   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** ?   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Why did he kill her?   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Why was he so consumed by revenge that he killed without even asking?   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Or investigating?   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Is love really that powerful?   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I’m pretty sure you wrote that storyline.   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I was just fooling around   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** But you portrayed it so well in the editing   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Would you do that?   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Throw it all away for revenge

It took a while for Meister to answer her. His silence made her nervous. _Was that too weird a question?_ Just before Sakura was going to take back her words and laugh it off, though, he did finally respond.

 **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I’m not him   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** It’s just a story   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** You should go home soon, it’s pretty late   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Mm I should   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** The library’s nearly empty now   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** It’s a bit scary   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** There should still be someone there

Surprised, Sakura instinctively looked around. She was a bit startled to see a figure in the back, face shadowed by the lamp behind him. She squinted her eyes to see who it was.

 **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** You’re right   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** The supervising librarian is still here.   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I’m less afraid now lol   
**[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Good night then!   
**[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** good night, MDW

**(¬‿¬ ) (//▽//)**

Sasuke watched Sakura pack her things and pick up her bag, and kept watching as she turned off her desk light and became a dark shadow against the window. If anyone he’d known well had seen him at that moment, they might not have recognized him, because the small, charmed smile on his face still hadn’t faded. _I’m glad she liked the new ending. I feel a bit bad for making her cry like that, though. I hope that’s the last time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right, Sasuke-kun, you better not be like him in this lifetime!
> 
> And I'm back again! Sorry guys, hit a rough patch lifewise. Hopefully we're back on track now (if not, please donate to Reglee the amazing Beta's Genshin Impact fund). Does the bench scene still make people blubber? Because like honestly it still does get me going after all these years. Maybe that was when my shipping heart really fell for this pairing (tbh I fell for Sakura as a character first. Part of the charm might've been the forehead). So yes, this is the video! Love O2O/WWYXHQC fans will notice that this is a fairly large deviation from the drama, and I WILL have extra notes about this on my tumblr, because I have thoughts (as I usually do when I deviate). For everyone else who doesn't want to read hours of ANs, though, I will just say thank you to Reglee the amazing Beta, thank you the reader for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed it! As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, subscriptions, and illegible scrawls on doctor's notes always make my day. See you soon!


	23. One Conversation Leads to Another

Just before Temari opened the door to the dorm, the loud conversation on the other side made her pause and open her eyes wide.

“Okay but have you done it yet?”

“N-No, of course not!”

_Did I get the right dorm?_

“Why not?! Sakura-chan, stop swearing at your screen and back me up here. You don’t have to go hard for your first time, Hinata-chan!”

_It’s the right number and the names are right. But the conversation..._

“D-Don’t you think it’s kind of intimidating?”

“You’ve got good partners, don’t you?”

Unable to resist any more, Temari burst through the door. Tenten and Hinata both looked up at her, startled. “Partners?! Multiple?! What do you need multiple partners for your first time for?! Isn’t one enough?”

“Not if you want to run an instanced mission without dying,” Tenten replied, staring at Temari’s red face. “Hey Temari-chan, what’s up?”

“A-are you okay?” Hinata got up, concerned.

“Mission...” Temari said blankly, “You guys were talking about gaming?

Tenten narrowed her eyes at her.“What did you think we meant?”

“... you know what. Nevermind. Just ignore me,” Temari felt vaguely ashamed of her gutter brain, so she tried to wave it off by turning to their last roommate buried in a corner, “Hey Sakura-chan, what are you muttering at?”

“People are calling me names on the internet,” Sakura pouted.

“Like that’s anything new for you,” Tenten teased her.

Sakura threw a pillow at her. “This time it’s got nothing to do with me! I blame Meister!”

“What happened?” Temari went over, concerned.

“People are calling me cruel and sadistic for the ending to our video. Saying putting such a cute beginning with such a hopelessly painful ending like that is just abusing the viewers,” Sakura complained, “But I didn’t even write the ending! Meister changed it on me, but he still put me down as the writer!”

“Oh the video’s out with the new ending? Whoo hoo! Let me see, let me see!” Tenten jumped to her laptop. Hinata drew up to her computer to look as well.

Tenten whistled, impressed.“Oh wow, that’s a looooot of votes for what’s essentially a nonsensical melodrama, Sakura-chan. And you only posted this last night!"

“Th-the editing quality is really good,” Hinata already had one earbud in, “Wh-what about the changed ending though?”

“Ask her,” Sakura tilted her chin to Tenten.

“It was so hard to keep the secret! But judging from the comments, it paid off,” Tenten grinned, not at all abashed, “Just watch it! I’m not going to spoil it for you.”

“Is this the cheesy romance video you were filming to spite the girl who stole your in-game husband and then made fun of you in her video?” Temari sat back, not concerned anymore. Instead, she rolled her eyes at Sakura, “I thought your current in-game husband beat up your ex-husband for you because of that. Don’t you think it’s overkill?”

“We didn’t film the video to spite her,” Sakura protested, but then grinned, “but it won’t hurt my feelings if we beat her.”

**(￣ω￣)**

“Sai, are you listening to me?!” Sai winced as he held the phone away for his ear to protect his eardrums when his girlfriend’s pitch reached a new high. Still, he jammed it back between his ear and his shoulder to dutifully respond.

“Yes, I’m still here. I’m still at work though.” Sai said as he gathered his discarded work clothes for the laundry and tidied the living room of his apartment.

“Awww baby, you work too hard!” Ami’s voice instantly turned sweet and soft. It gave him the willies. “It would have done you good to come out and have dinner with us tonight. Oh well, next time, okay? I want to show off my amazing, successful boyfriend to all my friends!”

“Mm, next time,” Sai agreed.

“It would’ve made me more cheerful to have you here. I can’t believe SakuraBlossom’s catching up to us so quickly? How’s that a love story, anyways?”

“I don’t know either.” _I only started this whole relationship thing because you asked nicely._

“Boy meets girl, boy leaves girl, boy kills girl. Bleh! Ours was so much more romantic!”

“Mmm,” _I don’t even remember what our video was about._

“And they forced us to take down the original video. We lost so many votes with that!”

“Mmm,” _At least you didn’t lose two levels and get humiliated._

“It’s so unfair.”

“Mmm,”

“You understand me, Sai.”

“Mmm.”

“But what are we going to do now? I really want that rainbow colour suit…”

“Mmm.”

“Why don’t you… resolve it the way you always solve problems?”

Since Sai wasn’t standing in front of her right now, he didn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes. _So this is why she called me. If that’s all she wanted, she could’ve just sent me a text._

“Pretty please, Sai?”

None of his exasperation leaked into his voice. Still as gentle as ever, he responded. “Of course. I’ll handle it.”

**(￣︿￣)**

For the first time in a while, Sakura logged in to Way of the Ninja with no plans to play with anyone else, just so she could get started on gathering for her super-secret project. Before she could go too far, though, Chun_Lee caught up with her.

_I haven’t talked to CL in a while. I wonder what’s up? I did tell the clan I’d be busy for the next couple of months to prepare for the tournament._

> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Sakura!   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Hey! What’s up?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** I’m enjoying being young and beautiful ;)

Sakura laughed at the old joke.

> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Haha of course   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** you’re our clan’s #1 beauty after all   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Urgh, not anymore   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** at least not since UWUKasumi joined the clan   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** She went off on me being disrespectful to Ami, since she’s ACTUALLY got the title of server beauty   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Rude!   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** When did she join? She’s not nearly a good enough player to meet the level requirements   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** And is that title real?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Oh ages ago   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** She joined when UWUAmi married into the clan   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** The whole family did   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Oh jeez   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** And yes, that title’s actually real   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Although UWUAmi doesn’t use it since it’s too embarrassing   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** But she won it fair and square from the irl picture contest   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** So she popped it at her clan introduction   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Right that was a thing   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** You should have entered, I’m sure you would have won   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Hehe <3   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Of course   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Ami and Fuki aren’t that bad   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** But that Kasumi….   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Well, if I don’t have anything nice to say, I won’t say anything lol   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** At least they don’t make a ruckus   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** And she and Fries seem to be pretty happy together   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Hey, you know they’re going out in person right?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** yeah, that’s why we got divorced   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** I got couples pics of them irl, wanna see?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Nah

Sakura didn’t even think before she turned CL’s offer down. She had no interest in Fries’ real life, and seeing his picture crossed the boundary she always had between her game life and her real life.

> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** lololololololol   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Speaking of Fries…   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** He wanted me to ask you…   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** …   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Wait first promise me you won’t get mad at me   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** ?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Tell me what it is first   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** …   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Oh fine   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** He asked me to ask you how much money it would cost for you guys to take down the video.   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** You know, the [Finding Love in the Way of the Ninja] Contest   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** …   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** …   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** …   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Don’t be mad, Sakura, you know how he is

_Shannaro! He has some damn nerve!_ Sakura was a bit outraged by his cheek. Even without considering the tiny grudge she’d held over Fries and Ami’s video, Fries probably wasn’t willing to pay what their work was worth. _Then again, he’s always been like that. It’s like the guy thinks money covers a multitude of sins, and time, effort, and sincerity mean nothing._

> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Pft if he can afford me   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** It’s not like I lack money   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** woah, really Sakura?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** You don’t seem like a rich kid   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** I try to keep it lowkey   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** If he can’t afford at least 5k tell him to go away

In her heart, Sakura apologized to her working-class parents who owned a bakery, but she was determined to make Fries pay a high price for his nerve. _Looks like Meister’s beat down wasn’t enough._

> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** 5k!??!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** I think he was thinking more like max 500   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Forget it, lol   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** tbh I didn’t want to ask anyways, but he seems to really like Ami   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** and Ami really wants the [All The Hues in the Rainbow Suit]   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** You big softy   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** I really am   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** … You’re really not mad at me?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Not you   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** And not mad, not really   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** … You don’t still have a thing for Fries, right?

_Why does everyone think I liked him?! We were just married, okay?!_ Sakura scowled.

> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** how’d your brain go there?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** There was no ‘thing’ in the first place   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** We had a marriage of convenience, remember?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Besides, I have Meister now   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Pft show off~   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** How’s it going with him?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** It’s a little stressful   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Tournament’s soon, but we’re nowhere near intimacy cap, even with our multiplier   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** And we’re both going to get busy soon   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** I think we might have to try the impossible couples mission to make it in time   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** You guys are going to try the [Love Across Time and Space] Chain Mission?!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** But no one’s beaten it, ever!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Like ever ever, in the history of Way, ever   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** We haven’t tried yet ;)   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** I believe in us   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Woaaaaaaaaaaaah   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Pf have you never heard of show your love, die sooner?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** We’re not in love!   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** We’re .. compatriots   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** With a common goal   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** at least in gaming   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** pf right   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Because you totally beat the fluff of your compatriot’s ex-husband   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** What are you going to do after the tournament?   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Any plans to meet in person?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** … I don’t know   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Woah, it’s not an immediate rejection? From you, that’s practically a declaration of love   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Is he in Konohagakure too?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** I think so?   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** Based on things he and his static have let drop   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** But I haven’t really asked   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Man you guys are so lucky!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** I wish I could meet you guys in person   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** You’ll just have to hitchhike down here some day   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Maybe I will!   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** But not today - gotta run   
> **[Whisper] Chun_Lee:** Seeya Sakura-chan!   
> **[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom:** bye

_I hadn’t really thought about what came after the tournament_. They’d been spending so much time in-game trying to max out intimacy levels, and she still had school and her summer internship to worry about. The tournament was scheduled to overlap with her last month of classes after midterm exams ended, with the all-server final about a week before her first final.

 _If we get that far in the first place_ , Sakura smiled at her own confidence. _Should I ask him if he wants to meet up? No, that’s too weird. Still…_ Her heart ached a little at the thought of fading out of each other’s lives just like that. _I can’t believe this person whose face I’ve never seen is someone has become so important._

 _I just have to make sure he remembers me,_ Sakura made up her mind. With renewed vigour, she set off to get started on her super-secret project.

**(￣▽￣)**

“Are you still playing?” Temari came back to the dorm one day during midterms to find Sakura shrouded in darkness, her face made ghastly pale by the glowing screen. “Turn on a light, you’re going to hurt your eyes!”

Temari turned on the lights herself. The sudden brightness made her wince, but Sakura didn’t even flinch. “Thanks Temari-chan. Could you grab me the cup noodles by the kettle? The water should be boiled by now.”

“You shouldn’t be eating that crap. Go eat actual food,” Temari sighed, but she went over to the electric kettle in the bathroom, only to find that the water was already tepid. “Sakura-chan! How long has it been since you last ate?”

“Huh?” Sakura finally looked up from her game. Before she could say anything else though, her stomach rumbled loudly.

“Honestly,” Temari shook her head as she turned the kettle back on. Considering the one open container of cup ramen on the counter, she hesitated for a moment, but pulled out another from her closet. _It’s just once!_ She promised herself. As she waited for the water to boil, she started talking to Sakura again.

“If you keep eating this stuff, you’re going to get fat,” Temari admonished her.

“I run every morning, I won’t get fat,” Sakura replied, “You guys should come with me sometime. The track’s nearby, and it’s not too crowded in the mornings.”

“With the way you run? No way,” Temari shuddered just thinking about it, “Besides, our midterms are starting soon, and I haven’t finished our assignment for next week. Not all of us are like you and can put gaming before schoolwork.”

“I’m done with my revision and all my assignments are done,” Sakura protested, “I’m taking a well-deserved break!”

“Can I see your proof for Linear Algebra 2?” Temari asked, perking up a little, “Shika was too lazy to explain it to me properly.”

“Sure, but write out your own answer and don’t look at mine when you’re working on it. It’s in the second drawer of my desk,” Sakura said.

“Don’t worry, I just need to figure out what theorem to use,” Temari reassured her as she went over to rummage around. While she was at Sakura’s desk, she noticed a new green addition to her desk. Curious, Temari touched the soil, “Have you been watering your cactus every day? You’re going to kill it by overwatering it!”

“Huh?” Sakura blinked. “I’m just watering it when the soil gets dry.”

“You don’t need to water these more than once a week during the growing season. You can even leave it alone for a few months with no problems. Trust the desert girl when it comes to cactuses, Sakura-chan. Cactuses are very low maintenance.”

“Gotcha. Thanks Temari-chan!”

“When did you get a cactus, anyways?”

“Oh, when Tenten-chan and I went shopping to cheer Hinata up after we found out she and I failed the ROOT interview. We went to the flea market,” Sakura said absently.

“Ah…,” Temari snuck a peek at Sakura, but she didn’t seem to be bothered by failing the interview at all. _Hinata though…_ “How did Hina-chan take it?”

“She was a bit down. We told you about her asshole cousin and how she turned down the internship he just shoved at her, right?”

“Oh yeah… at the beginning of the term?”

“Yeah. So she really wants to prove herself to her family this summer.”

“Well, she’s got plenty of time. You only need 12 weeks to call it an internship, right? So you guys have technically until the end of May to find a job. That’s a whole month after the end of term, and you know with five exams over three weeks, we’ll have some free time on campus anyways.”

“I know that. But Hinata’s worried.”

“Are you planning on finding an internship in Konohagakure? What about your parents?”

“Yeah, that’s the goal. I booked an earlier train back on the first day after the exam period ends so I can spend a couple of weeks with them in April if I do get an internship. And if I don’t...,” Sakura trailed off and grimaced, “Well, it’s not like I have a boyfriend or anyone keeping me here.”

“Hey what about us!?” Temari protested, “We won’t get to hang out at all if you go back that early! It’ll be a whole four months before we see each other again!”

“All we’ve done in the past semester’s post exam period is go out, get bubble tea and fried chicken, and go shopping. I’m totally broke, remember?” When Temari opened her mouth to offer to lend her money, Sakura hurriedly spoke over her, “Besides, next semester Shikamaru-senpai won’t be here anymore, so you’ll be around more often. We can hang out then.”

“Fine,” Temari made a face at her, “But we’re going shopping before then so you can help me pick clothes. You always have the stupidest luck with deals.”

When she saw the hesitant look on Sakura’s face, she added, “After your game tournament is done. I know you, Miss Responsible Scholarship student, you’d never schedule a game tournament in the exam period. C’mon! I haven’t gone out with you all semester!”

“Okay fine, twist my arm. But I’ll end up just being the bag carrier,” Sakura complained.

“I will treat everyone to dinner if you do, okay?” Temari offered, “Oh don’t give me that face, Sakura-chan, you know I do at least once a semester, except someone’s been avoiding going out because of her gaming addiction.”

“I don’t have a gaming addiction, I have a tournament to prepare for!” Sakura protested, but when Temari gave her that look again, she gave in, “Oh fine. Thank you, Temari-chan, you’re the best.”

“Thank me by finding me the perfect cashmere sweater for under $100 again,” Temari snorted, but she smiled when she got Sakura’s agreement. “How’s that tournament going, anyways? That’s with your in-game husband, right? You’ve been spending a lot of time with him - you guys aren’t online dating, are you?”

“No! Geez Temari-chan!” Sakura overreacted. “I don’t know what he looks like or what his real life circumstances are. He might not even be a guy! That’s not enough to start a relationship with!”

Temari raised an eyebrow when she saw Sakura’s red cheeks. _The lady doth protest too much._ “I didn’t think you were the superficial type, Sakura-chan. You’ve probably spent more time talking with this guy in game than I have with Shika this semester. You must have a good idea of his character and values, and interests and whatever by now.”

“That’s because you guys have been dating too long so you don’t feel the need to chat any more,” Sakura muttered, but she didn’t refute the first half of Temari’s statement.

“Hey, we’re talking about your relationship here, not mine,” Temari shook a finger at her.

“There is no relationship!” Sakura protested. “I haven’t even met the guy!”

“But would you want to?” Temari asked seriously, “You’ve put in all this time during the tournament and this video and whatever, you can’t just throw it away afterwards.”

“Well…,” Sakura paused. The struggle in her heart showed on her face.

 _I shouldn’t push her too hard,_ Temari sighed and put one hand on her shoulder, “Think about it later - our noodles are going to get soggy if we wait much longer.”

**(ｏ・_・)ノ”(ノ_ <、)**

Sakura was still thinking about it a week later, even while she was supposed to be focused on her couple’s mission with Meister.

> **[Couple] System:** Oh no! You’ve killed one of the imperial guards sent by the daimyo. When Heitaro-san reaches the capital to appeal to the daimyo to spare his willow wife, he will be put to death for the crime of attempted murder of an imperial guard.   
> **[Couple] System:** Would you like to reset this challenge? Type Y to agree, N to quit   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** URGH slkdjfha   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Sorry >.<   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** nw   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Are you okay?   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Yeah I’m fine   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Just a bit distracted   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** sorry, I know you’re busy and we’re overtime   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** I can do this one on my own   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Just afk do whatever you need to   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** It’s OK   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** But if you want to try it yourself, go ahead   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Yeah I think I will.   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Y   
> **[Couple] System:** Heitaro-san requests your help to protect his willow wife. His wife is the spirit of the tree, and if the tree is chopped down, she will perish! However, the daimyo has demanded each village provide the best timber possible. Protect Heitaro-san’s willow wife as he goes to the capital to beg the daimyo to spare the large tree at the front of the village.   
> **[Couple] System:** However, since the imperial guards were sent by the daimyo, you absolutely cannot kill any of them! Otherwise, Heitaro-san will be charged with conspiracy to murder an imperial guard.   
> **[Couple] System:** Keep the guards distracted so they don’t chop into the willow, but don’t kill any in the time it takes for Heitaro-san to reach the capital.   
> **[Couple] System:** The imperial guards are approaching

_Shannaro! Focus, you idiot_ , Sakura scolded herself and buckled down to complete this annoying task. _Now I understand why you get so many intimacy points by completing this task_. For most couples, one would heal and the other would kite, but since the imperial guards were so squishy, the window for healing was very narrow. As she got into the rhythm of the event, though, Sakura realized that at her level, it was easier to do this solo, since she could control both damage output and healing output. _Meister’s just too damn strong for his own good._

She didn’t even notice that Meister had gone up to a nearby rooftop to avoid drawing aggro, nor that they had company, until she heard the sound for two defeated opponents. _Shannaro! No way I accidentally killed one of the guards._ Distracted, she checked the chat. She didn’t see the failure message, but she did see something else that made her laugh.

> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** What are you doing up here?   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Couples mission   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Huh?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** lololol   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** It looks like 3SIL’s doing the work and you’re sponging xp off her   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Benefits of having a wife   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** You slackers wouldn’t understand   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** HEY   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** Oy!   
> **[Here] System:** Sm1rkMeister has accepted a 1v2 duel challenge from Beowulf69 and OldRamenMan   
> **[Here] System:** Sm1rkMeister wins!   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** *******   
> **[Couple] System:** Heitaro-san’s about to return with the daimyo’s stay of execution. One of you should help escort him through the soldiers!   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Could you?   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Of course, mdw

That appellation always made Sakura’s heart tremble a little. _It’s just a joke, Sakura, get yourself together. Don’t screw up this mission now._ She refocused on her task.

> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Yo, where are you going, *******?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Come res us!   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** SM!RK YOU ******   
> **[Couple] System:** Heitaro-san has made it through the crowd and presented the Daimyo’s stay of execution to the imperial guards!   
> **[Couple] System:** Congratulations! You have successfully completed this couples mission! 20,000 intimacy points (base 10,000 points plus a bonus 10,000 thanks to your couples karma) will be rewarded.

Sakura sat back in her chair with a sigh of relief. _Finally!_

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** gj   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** ty ^^   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Only 20K points though…   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** sorry I got busy   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I thought we’d have enough time   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** dw about it   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** irl stuff is more important   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Good thing you rerolled that multiplier for us, though

In a dorm room not too far away from where Sakura was, a certain someone felt a twinge of conscience. So he changed the subject.

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Should we go for the [Love Across Time and Space] Mission?   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I can make time next Saturday   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Are you sure?   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** If we fail, we’ve wasted a lot of time when both of us are busy   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** believe in us

_Is it that simple?_ Sakura wondered. As much as she’d shown off confidently to CL before, she was still hesitant. _But it’s Meister. If anyone could do it, we could._

> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** OK   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Let’s do it   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Now can you come up here and res us?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Geez   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Idiot couples just lost in their own world of two   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** It’s been so long you could just waypoint and run back here   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** idiot yourself   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Hey 3SIL   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** We were defending your honor and teaching Sm1rk a lesson for you   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** he should do his part!   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I can teach my own husband

Sakura’s fingers froze on the enter key, and her face turned bright red when she read what she’d just sent. _Whyyyyy isn’t there a takebacksies button?!_ She wanted to slowly bang her head against her keyboard. _That’s what I get for bantering with the guys! Dammit!_

> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** exactly, wife   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** …   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** …   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** I hate you both   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** Forget it, we can’t get involved in other family’s problems   
> **[Announcement] System:** The [Finding Love in the Way of the Ninja] contest has ended! The Winners have been decided!   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Oh I didn’t realize they’d be announcing this in-game   
> **[Announcement] System:** SakuraBlossom and Sm1rkMeister’s video, “On Living” has won!   
> **[Announcement] System:** Congratulations to both players!   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** woah we actually won!!!!!   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** of course we did   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** gj, mdw

Sakura had stopped paying attention to the voting when she’d gotten annoyed by people scolding her for being cruel and sadistic. Tenten had kept her up to date on the voting progress, but she hadn’t realized that voting ended today.

A ping announced that she had mail, and a flashy rainbow mail carrier appeared on her screen, delivering her prize. Eagerly, Sakura opened it up and immediately rummaged through all the prizes.

> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Worth adding the flashbacks   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** WOW that’s a lot of gold   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Yo where are our royalty fees?   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** Sure   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Don’t bother, they didn’t do much   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Count it as a meeting gift   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** What meeting gift, we’ve know 3SIL for months now   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Be glad I’m not charging you interest   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** You ***hole   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** Never mind that, didn’t you guys get a couples outfit with the package?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Oh yeahhhhh   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** try them on, go be all matchy matchy   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** my sister does that to her three dogs

Sakura ignored Kiba’s jeering. _I wonder what’s so special about the All the Hues of the Rainbow outfit that Ami wanted it so badly. Fries was even willing to pay real money for it._ When she put on the outfit, she realized that not only was it a gorgeous, highly detailed, and incredibly revealing wedding gown, complete with a shimmering veil, she could also change the colours at will. Fascinated, she cycled through all the colours available. _It really is every hue of the rainbow._

> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Woah that’s insane   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** No wonder it’s a limited prize, can you image the GPU overload if everyone had that outfit?   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** Oi   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** You look really good 3SIL   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** Yo Sm1rk, what are you waiting for?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Yeah I want to see   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Go away   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** Not until you show us   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** We can wait until they’re gone, but I’d really like to see it   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** …

Sakura nearly fell out of her chair when Meister’s avatar suddenly changed into a dazzling tuxedo, complete with a natty top hat. She enjoyed the eye candy as the outfit changed from a brilliant red, to a burnt orange, to a sunshine yellow, to a bright blue, to a deep indigo, and ending on the elegant violet colour. Sakura blushed a bit when she realized that they now matched, since they both stopped on the last violet colour.

> **[Here] Beowulf69:** yooooooooo   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** That was only six colours   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Where’s the last one?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** There’s no way they ****ed up the rainbow   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** You report it to the devs   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** It’s not like I’m going to wear it again anyways   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Waaaaaaat   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** No, you gotta match with 3SIL   
> **[Here] Sm1rkMeister:** Old couples like us don’t need any stupid gimmicks

_Old couples?_ Sakura put her hands on her incredibly hot cheeks to try and cool down her embarrassment. In an attempt to dispel her embarrassment, she even covered her eyes so she wouldn’t see her stupid grin in the reflection on her monitor. She nearly missed Sm1rk’s last message.

> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** I need to go now   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** See you next weekend for [Love across Time and Space] mission?   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** …   
> **[Couple] Sm1rkMeister:** Sakura?   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Sorry!   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Yes   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** Let’s try it next weekend   
> **[Couple] SakuraBlossom:** See you later ^_^   
> **[Couple] System:** Your husband Sm1rkMeister is now offline

_I should probably log off, too._ Sakura mused. Just before she logged off, though, Wulf and Old Man’s conversation caught her eye.

> **[Here] Beowulf69:** I FIGURED IT OUT   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** It’s marked in the book on his desk   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** What, the pink one?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** No, not Icha Icha Innocence   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Business Customs across the world   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** ?   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** What about it?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** The suit comes with a top hat, right?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** and Smirk skipped the green suit, right?   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** Yeah, so?   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** Get to the point already   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** In certain parts of the world   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** “wearing a green hat” means that the wearer is being cheated on by his partner   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** THAT’S why he didn’t try on the green colour   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** … Seriously?   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** That guy takes things he reads in books too seriously   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Nah, he just likes 3SIL that much   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** eh, 3SIL?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** eh?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** eh?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh?   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** You’re probably thinking too much   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** He probably just accidentally skipped over it and was too lazy to go back   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** Nah, Sm1rk never makes mistakes like that   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** It could happen   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** No way, he’s just really into you   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** Why else would he be reading Icha Icha Innocence all of a sudden?   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** This guy never cared about romance before   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** ….   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I told you, thinking too much   
> **[Here] SakuraBlossom:** I g2g. See you guys   
> **[Here] Beowulf69:** 3SIL don’t run away from his feelings!   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** hang on   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** It should be   
> **[Here] OldRamenMan:** 3SIL don’t run away from your feelings!

_What a bunch of dorks_ , Sakura chuckled a bit at the antics as she finally logged off. She could feel her face heating up again, though. _I wonder what their dorm room’s like. Must be chaos if Wulf snoops through Meister’s books, though. I kind of want to see it._

Sakura paused when she realized exactly what she’d thought. She wanted to meet them. She wanted to get to know them as real people and not just avatars on the screens and jokes in chat. She waited for the vague clench of alienation and uneasiness she usually got when she thought of meeting her game friends in real life and felt…

Nothing. Except a little flutter of anticipation.

_Maybe I should ask for an offline meet..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naruto and Kiba with the wingman action... I think it's working XD
> 
> *cough* IT'S ALIVE! I'm alive! Well, barely. Basically stuff happened - I moved, my computer broke, turns out I can't fix it because McAfee is a PITA (I hate McAfee. Never buying them again on principle) and locked my bios, so I spent way too much money on a gaming laptop (I did spring for an RTX2060, which is part of the reason I spent too much money. I only play one game that doesn't even use the tech, but by golly, I'm going to spend on it anyways. What else are annual bonuses for? Don't learn from my example kids). And then sh*t hit the fan at work and I've spent the past few weeks working until midnight. And then I got sick. Still need to work Monday, but at least I don't have that many client deadlines breathing down my neck any more, thank GOD. ANYWAYS.
> 
> Thank you to all the lovelies who reached out and non-demandingly reminded me there are still people here who want to keep reading - you guys are the best. I hope this was a satisfying chapter to come back to - it's a bit of a smorgasbord - a bit of set-up, a bit of shenanigans, a bit of dog food (what CNovels call PDA), and whole lotta pain in the butt to localize. Especially the green hat bit. I want to keep writing this, but to be perfectly honest, if I don't manage to get one together over my Christmas break, it might have to wait until February because January is always hell on earth in my line of work. I haven't forgotten it and I still want to write it, but some days it's a choice between writing and sleep, unfortunately, and I need the sleep because Sseep-deprived LScore makes no sense. Thank you to Reglee who beta-ed the chapter! As always, reviews, comments, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and snow angels dyed with food colouring always make my day. Stay safe and see you soon (I hope)!


	24. Young and Innocent

Standing at the door of the bathroom in the men’s dorm, Shikamaru pinched himself.

It hurt. Which meant the scene in front of his eyes was _real_.

Shikamaru pinched himself again.

Still hurt.

He wasn’t having a weird fever dream caused by one of Temari’s strange soups. Those three were actually washing their socks in the communal bathroom sinks. _I have so many questions and not enough energy to ask them._

“Shikamaru, what the hell are you doing just standing there? Throw me the soap already!” Kiba yelled, up to his elbows in sudsy water.

“Oh, sure,” Still a bit dumbfounded, Shikamaru looked around but only found one pathetic sliver of grubby soap lying on the countertop. Nevertheless, he did as told and tossed it to Kiba…

Only for that tiny sliver to land in the sink to disappear without a trace.

“Oh hell, Dammit Shikamaru! I still have a sock to scrub!” Kiba swore. He frantically started lifting up the suds in the sink to find the tiny sliver of soap.

“Oh come on, you’re almost done. Just get the last one wet and rub it a bit,” Naruto scoffed

“That’s what he said,” Kiba muttered. “These are my lucky socks - I was wearing them the day I got into Konoha U. If that asshole throws them out the same way he threw out your ramen socks, I’m never going to get a date!”

Shikamaru stared at the stupidly grinning face of a Shiba Inu on the sock Kiba was holding up, then closed his mouth before he asked. _The answer probably won’t make sense anyways._

“You can’t blame the socks for your lack of a date,” Naruto scoffed.

“Oi!” Kiba glared. Naruto made a face at him. Infuriated, Kiba started chasing him around the cramped bathroom, brandishing the silly Shiba Inu while roaring at him. With a sigh, Shikamaru ducked as they ran right past him and down the hallway like a pair of lunatics.

“Need a hand?” Shikamaru asked Chouji as he got up and dusted off his pants.

“Nah, I’m almost done here anyways,” Chouji shrugged, elbows deep in the sink full of bubbles.

Watching him, Shikamaru couldn’t help asking, “Why are you guys washing your socks by hand, anyways?”

“Someone flooded the laundry room so no one can go in there, and Sasuke’s anal about his laundry. He ended up tossing the worst smelling into the trash and taking it out. I can’t say I blame him - Naruto’s socks stunk pretty bad at that point. He should probably get that checked out.”

Shikamaru didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “No I mean… why are you washing your socks by hand?”

“I don’t know! Ask maintenance why it’s taken them two weeks to fix a laundry room!”

“Chouji…”

“What?!”

“You know you guys could’ve just brought your laundry over to my apartment, right?”

“...,” Realization made Chouji’s expression crumble into a look of utter defeat. He put his head down until it was almost in the sudsy sink. “DAMMIT! You lucky son of a ....”

Shikamaru patted his back sympathetically, “Well, you’re almost done anyways. Bring them over next week.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Chouji sighed and went back to his washing. He gave Shikamaru a side-eye, though, “You sure your cute girlfriend won’t mind?”

“Temari? No, not unless you ask her to do your laundry because she’s a girl,” Shikamaru shrugged.

“I like how you assume she’s going to be there anyways,” Chouji teased him, “Time was, you were still trying to maintain an appropriate distance because a girlfriend was too much of a pain in the ass.”

“It was more troublesome to try to keep her out. I just gave her a key,” Shikamaru grumbled, but his lips quirked into a smile at the thought of his girl.

“I guess your dad’s screw up when he was too lazy to pay your residence deposit ended up working out for you, eh?”

Shikamaru’s ear tips turned red, “Chouji!”

“What? I’m just saying you couldn’t’ve had her visit so much if you were living in dorms,” Chouji looked genuinely puzzled as he wrung out his last sock.

Shikamaru shook his head, “I don’t know how they haven’t corrupted you yet.” Seeing Chouji wring out his last sock, he grabbed the basins Naruto and Kiba had left behind. “Come on, I’ll help you take this back to your room.”

“Okay then,” Chouji shrugged.

When they arrived back at their dorm, Shikamaru could already hear Kiba and Naruto yelling loudly at the top of their lungs. When they walked in, he marvelled at Sasuke clearly ignoring the two of them and typing away at an email. _I don’t know how he works in this din._

“I don’t know why we have to clean up, anyways,” Kiba complained at the top of his lungs, “Doesn’t the smell drive off your fans? We’re doing you a favour, really Sasuke.”

“I’ll do you a favour and burn them,” Sasuke replied.

Kiba and Naruto looked at him aghast.

“You've gotta be kidding me!”

“Not my lucky socks!” Kiba wailed.

“C’mon Sasuke, be reasonable!” Naruto joined him, “I just fished my ramen socks out of the dumpster! We’re brothers! Come on, third bro, you can’t just do that to us!”

“Try me,” Sasuke didn’t even look up.

Shikamaru watched the pandemonium from the sidelines, vastly entertained. Thinking of something, he leaned over and asked Chouji, “Why is Naruto calling Sasuke third bro?”

Chouji, who was also watching the scene, chuckled at the question. “Well, it goes back to when we were young and innocent, and just moved in together…”

_On move-in day, nearly four years ago..._

The first thing Chouji unpacked when he got to his dorm was his bigger suitcase because that was the important one. That one held his snacks, including his favourite ones from home that he couldn’t get here. Before he got to all his other stuff, though, the blond guy with too much energy started yelling.

“OKAY GUYS! Here we are! At the beginning of our University careers. Together we face the unknown, as roommates, as brothers!”

_Yep. Definitely way too much energy._

Blondie looked around like he was expecting some enthusiasm, only to see Chouji and the guy with the triangles on his face looking at him blankly. “Oh come on! When’s your birthday?”

“Huh?”

“Your birthday! The day you were born! When is it?”

“Oh uh, May 1st?”

“What about you, triangle face?”

“Dude!”

“Just tell me!”

“July 7, what gives?”

“So that makes you Big bro, and you second bro - wait, does that mean I’m the littlest bro? Aw come on, that’s not fair. Hey you, when’s your birthday?”

Blondie nudged the guy who’d been sitting at the desk in the back and hadn’t bothered to turn around since the rest of them all arrived. _If I didn’t see his hand move, I’d have wondered if they’d accidentally installed a sculpture in our room._ The quiet guy ignored them all.

Blondie was not impressed. He got into the statue’s face and asked, “Dude, are you deaf?”

Ignored again.

“Hey asshole!” Blondie grabbed the back of the guy’s chair and forced him to turn around. “I asked you a question.

“It’s too stupid to answer,” The quiet guy finally opened his mouth.

“What did you call me?”

“Stupid.”

“Hey!”

“It’s the truth.”

“Why you-” the two glowered at each other, face to face, snarl to sneer. Without taking his eyes off the spectacle, Chouji reached for the nearest bag of chips. He paused when he heard the guy with the triangles on his face sit down beside him on his bed.

“You think if I just,” Triangle boy clicked his tongue and made a gesture of knocking two heads together, “they’d kiss?”

Chouji grinned. “That’d be funny. But probably not the best way to start this relationship. We need to sleep the next four years.”

“You think that is?” Triangle boy cocked his thumb at the other two. “They’ll set this dorm on fire any minute now.”

“No, but I have a better idea,” Chouji said slowly when his searching hand found his laptop instead. “Hey guys.”

No answer. Blondie and Statue boy were still glaring at each other.

“Hey guys. Before you get to punching each other and making a mess of this place...,” Chouji pulled out his laptop and started clicking away. “Let’s do this without blood. Real blood, at least.”

That got their attention. Chouji grinned as all three of them turned to stare at him, “We’re all in computer science. You guys game, don’t you?”

Blondie immediately objected, “Yeah. We don’t necessarily play the same thing, though. Plus, exactly how much can you do as n00bs on a new game? How’s this going to be fair?”

Statue boy nodded.

“I have alpha keys to this new MMO that gives full PVP capabilities when you sign up. It’s called Way of the Ninja. You guys in?” Chouji turned his laptop around to show them the game. On it, a simple launcher showed a roughly cut video that demonstrated some of the PVP gameplay. He saw the growing interest on both their faces. _Gotcha._

“C’mon. Let’s settle this like men.”

_All of Chouji’s snacks later..._

“Holy CRAP how did you guys manage to tie?!” Kiba roared. “It’s been thirteen rounds, just someone win already!”

“I’m not giving up until I beat this asshole!” Naruto hollered back.

“Keep dreaming,” Sasuke replied curtly.

“You haven’t won yet either!”

“I’m hungry,” Chouji declared, rooting around in his empty packages. “It must almost be dinner. Let’s go find the canteen, you can keep fighting afterwards.”

“No! Not until this asshole admits to his defeat!” Naruto yelled, pointing at Sasuke.

“I haven’t lost, why should I?” Sasuke retorted.

“Again then!”

“Fine.”

“Oh my god, we’re never going to eat,” Kiba mourned as Naruto and Sasuke started glaring daggers again.

 _SLAM_.

All three of them jumped as Chouji slammed both Naruto and Sasuke’s laptops down at the same time. They stared at Chouji.

Chouji gave them his best I’m-hungry smile, “I’m. Hungry. Let’s continue this AFTER dinner. Okay? Okay.” He ignored any irrelevant opinions they might dare to have as he grabbed his student card and keys on the way out.

It only took Kiba a couple of seconds to catch up with him, a stupid grin plastered on his face. _At least one of them has a sense of what’s important._ “Dude. That’s a good game. How’d you get alpha keys?”

Chouji was about to answer when a loud bang in the hallway behind them made the two of them turn around.

“I was totally about to kick your ass in the last round!”

“In your dreams.”

“In YOUR dreams, maybe!”

“GUYS!” Chouji barked, thoroughly fed up. “Either stay in the room and keep going hungry or don’t hold us up.”

Sasuke turned his back on Naruto and started moving purposely. “Fine!” Naruto yelled back, not to be outdone. He quickly caught up, and the four of them got into the elevator in awkward silence. The dorm already was empty, since everyone else had obviously gone to dinner.

“July 23.”

The voice was so quiet, Chouji thought he was having a hunger-induced hallucination.

“What?” Kiba glanced around.

“My birthday. It’s July 23rd,” Sasuke muttered.

_Oh, the whole reason this started in the first place._

“Ah!” Naruto clutched his hair in realization, “That means I am the youngest bro! Dammit!”

Kiba pointed and laughed at him, “Dude, you’re the one who came up with the whole thing.”

“I am NOT going to be Big Bro,” Chouji declared firmly.

“What?! Why?” Naruto exclaimed, “Oh come on, Chouji!”

“I’m not fat!”

“What does that have anything to do with it? You’re the oldest, so you’re big bro. Kiba’s second, so he’s second brother, and I guess that makes this asshole third bro and me the fourth bro.”

“No!”

“I’m not third brother either.”

“FINE! You can be asshole brother then!”

“Whatever.”

_In the present day…_

Shikamaru stared at him. “That’s where this whole thing comes from?”

“Yeah,” Chouji shrugged, “Except Kiba stopped answering to second bro when someone told him it was slang for a guy’s… you know, and Naruto gave up on it entirely when someone told him four was an unlucky number and made him sound like he was dead. It only came up again because of Sasuke’s in-game wife.”

“In-game wife?! Sasuke?” Shikamaru thought he was done being surprised today.

“Yeah, in Way,” Chouji said nonchalantly. He caught Shikamaru’s befuddled look. “Well, we couldn’t exactly call her asshole sister-in-law.”

“... Yeah that makes perfect sense,” Shikamaru stared at him weirdly, “I’m amazed you guys are actually friends with a game company now, four years later.”

“Y’know what, so am I,” Chouji shrugged, “But it works.”

“Goddammit, Naruto you asshole!” Kiba roared as he held his nose, “That sock still smells like ass!”

“Bite me!” Naruto sniped back.

“Most of the time,” Chouji had to qualify his statement as he and Shikamaru watched the bickering in front of them and Sasuke calmly ignored them all.

All of a sudden, his phone rang loudly, cutting the bedlam like a knife slicing into hot butter. They all turned to look at him as Chouji picked up his phone.

“Who’s that?” Kiba asked, “Who still calls people's phones to actually talk in this day and age?”

“Why don’t you let him pick it up so he can find out?” Naruto sniped back.

Chouji ignored the both of them as he answered, “Hello, Akimichi Chouji speaking.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru could already see Naruto and Kiba starting to pinch at each other again, like a pair of kindergarteners without teacher supervision. _Those two never stop._

Until Chouji blurted out loudly, “Who? From Root Corp!?”

**(o_O) !**

_Nani the fuck? Am I hearing things?! “_ Why is-” Kiba opened his mouth but was immediately cut off by Sasuke. _The hell is his hand doing in my face, asshole?!_ Unfortunately, biting through Sasuke’s hand was not an option at this point, since he saw the serious, shut the fuck up, look on the asshole’s face. _He’s such an asshole._

“Oh yes. Yes I can talk now. Uh-huh. I’m flattered.” Chouji kept talking on the phone while he and Sasuke made eye contact. Sasuke nodded, and Chouji tilted his head to indicate he understood. _Understood what?!_

“For lunch? Sure, I can make myself available later this week. No, no dietary restrictions. Yes, I am too. Goodbye.” Chouji looked up at them all, wide-eyed, as he hung up.

“What the hell was that?” Kiba finally burst out, “Why’d you cover my mouth, asshole? What the hell is Root doing calling Chouji? He didn’t even go to our meeting with them!”

“How’d they even get your number?” Naruto asked.

Chouji shrugged, “I’m the go-to person for all our contractors. My number’s out there. They can find it if they try hard enough.”

“Why are you even meeting them!?” Kiba demanded. _This is the important question, dammit!_

“Because they asked, and we should find out what they’re looking for,” Chouji replied, “Maybe they have a good offer.”

“They gave us an offer! It’s a crappy acquihire! But they’re already fucking with our fundraising to close this acquihire! Since they can’t do that, they’re probably going to get Chouji to steal the source code on the way out!”

“Have a little faith in me, Kiba,” Chouji snapped, a bit irritated.

“These guys are unscrupulous assholes! Have you forgotten why we’ve been scrambling in the past few weeks? What if they kidnap your siblings and hold them hostage?”

“First of all, I’m an only child. Second of all, you’ve been watching too many movies. They’re corporate sharks, not the mafia. I’ll be fine.”

“Why even bother then?” Kiba huffed, but he finally settled down.

“To see if they improve their offer, and we string them along,” Sasuke glanced at Chouji, “Chouji gets a free meal out of it. I don’t see a problem.”

“If the offer is so good that one of us goes, all of us will. It’s fine, Kiba. Relax, asshole,” Naruto grinned, having recovered his equanimity.

“No way,” Kiba declared, “Not unless they offer me a million dollars a month and four gorgeous secretaries.”

“Good thing you’re not going to this lunch meeting,” Shikamaru muttered.

“Hey, you don’t even work for us!”

“Do you want to?” Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

“Sasuke!”

“No, it’s too troublesome. Besides, I gotta meet Temari for lunch. Bye,” Shikamaru left them with a lazy wave, leaving the four roommates looking at each other.

“Che,” Kiba eloquently expressed his disdain. Chouji looked at him, not sure if it was at Shikamaru turning them down for the nth time, or out of jealousy at the fact, he had a girlfriend.

Chouji decided he didn’t care. “Speaking of which - it’s lunch. Where do you guys want to eat?” He was looking at Kiba and Naruto for suggestions, but he wasn’t expecting Sasuke to speak up.

“The cafeteria near the west gate is good.”

“You’re coming with us? To actually eat on campus?” Kiba asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Sasuke didn’t even bother to look up from the email he was finishing.

“But you never eat in the cafeteria, not since the incident,” Chouji pointed out. “We don’t want to eat with you since that incident.”

“It’s not going to happen again.”

Kiba snickered.“No one thought a fangirl stampede was going to happen the first time!”

Sasuke just gave him a look. “I’ve been eating at that cafeteria for the past few weeks. Besides a few more looks, nothing else has happened.”

“Really?” Chouji eyed him suspiciously.

Sasuke just closed his laptop and stood up. “Coming or not?”

“We’re coming!” Chouji said quickly as he and Naruto grabbed their phone and cards.

“WAIT!” Kiba quickly objected, “We’re appearing in public with this asshole. People will be looking. We gotta dress the part! Impress the girls, you know?” He explained his nonsense with all the seriousness of a professor explaining a bubble sort.

“Seriously?” Chouji eyed him dubiously.

“Wait, Kiba might be onto something,” Naruto started digging through the pile of clothes on his bed.

“They better not take forever,” Chouji muttered to Sasuke as they watched the two idiots. He was too busy shaking his head at the idiocy to notice the tiny, amused smirk on Sasuke’s face.

**(x_x)(x_x)(￣ ￣|||)(¬‿¬ )**

Chouji was still shaking his head when they arrived at the west gate cafeteria since Naruto and Kiba were still subvocally sniping at each other between clenched grins. _I can’t believe they’re actually standing at the doors for dramatic effect._ He glanced at Sasuke, who was ignoring the whispers but had still stopped at the entrance with them. _Actually, I can’t believe Sasuke’s going along with it._

“I said dress to impress, Naruto!”

“Bite me!”

“That’s orange!”

“I look good in orange!”

“You look like a walking highlighter!”

“You’re just jealous more girls are looking at me.”

“Actually, I think they’re all staring at Sasuke.”

“Pft, no way. We are suave, successful seniors with our own company and we look damn handsome to boot… hey-hey, where’s everyone going?”

**(´-ω-`( _ _ )**

“Sakura-chan, don’t faint now, but look over there,” Tenten nudged her.

Sakura looked up from the very important menu decision she was trying to make and followed Tenten’s nod, and her eyes went wide in delight, “Quick, pinch me! Ow!”

“You were the one who told me to pinch you!”

“It’s fine, I just wanted to make sure I’m not dreaming. Uchiha-senpai is eating in the west cafeteria again! Give me your phone.”

“Why?”

“I lost mine, remember? I gotta get some photo evidence this time!” Sakura hissed as she took Tenten’s smartphone. She eagerly pointed the camera towards the entryway, where Uchiha-senpai had stopped, trying to surreptitiously get a good angle of his profile as he scanned the cafeteria. _He has such a perfect profile. Be still my beating heart!_

Sakura was so busy fangirling that she nearly jumped out of her skin when their eyes met through the viewfinder of the camera. _Shannaro! He’s looking at me!_

“He’s coming to this counter, right towards us,” Tenten hissed as she nudged Sakura.

Sakura hurriedly took the hint and pretended that she’d really been taking a selfie with Tenten all this time, in the lunch line. _Uchiha-senpai probably thinks I’m a total creep now._ When she handed the phone back to Tenten and they rejoined the lunch line, Uchiha-senpai and his friends had already joined the line next to them.

“My day is complete. We’re coming here to eat for the rest of the semester,” Sakura whispered to Tenten, still a bit giddy.

Tenten sniggered at her starstruck antics, “You’re such a fangirl. Don’t tell me you’re going to try to order what he does.”

“Yes!” Sakura’s eyes lit up, but then she realized something important, “but he’s further back in line than we are. We’ll probably get there first.”

“Ppft. Hey, you never know. The line beside us is moving fairly quickly.”

Sakura watched, half excitedly and half disbelievingly as she and Uchiha-senpai actually drew up to the counter at the same time. _This other lunch guy is really fast._

“What would you like, dearie?” The lunch lady asked her.

“What can I get you?” The guy serving Uchiha-senpai asked at the same time.

 _Wait, what am I going to do now? What was I going to order? Maybe I should just wait for Uchiha-senpai._ Sakura snuck a glance at her idol standing not two feet from her. However, he didn’t say anything, and the silence was starting to get really awkward.

“Sir? Your order?” The lunch guy repeated, trying to prompt them.

“Dearie?”

 _Ah, forget about it. At this rate, Uchiha-senpai will actually remember me as a total stalker._ “Chicken wings with fries, please.” Sakura blurted out.

“Chicken wings with fries,” Uchiha-senpai said at the same time.

Startled, Sakura actually turned to look at him, only to find him looking back at her with a small quirk of the eyebrows. She could practically feel her face turn bright red and burst into flames.

_Shannaro! First, the History of Encryption class, now this! Why is it every time I run into Uchiha-senpai I seem to lose my IQ? Please, God, let me come out of this whole situation not looking like a creepy fangirl!_

**(¬‿¬ )(*ﾉωﾉ)**

Shino exchanged a look with his colleague, then looked back at the two people holding up the line behind them. “I only have one serving of wings left. Are you willing to wait ten minutes for the next batch?”

“N-nevermind! Y-you go ahead,” The girl with the pink hair stammered.

“I don’t want it,” the guy said blandly. Shino wanted to sigh as the girl seemed to fall into a stupor again. _Just put me out of my misery already. What’s wrong with these weirdos? They can’t be dating, right?_

“Hey, Sasuke, if you don’t want the wings, give them to me,” A cute guy with a roguish grin broke up the nearly palpable hearts and bubbles between the two weirdos. The girl looked away, her face still bright red, while the guy - _Sasuke was it? That’s intimate. I wonder if they’re roommates_ \- glared at his friend.

“Dammit Kiba, I wanted wings,” One of the other guys behind him complained.

“Too bad, I got here first!” _His name is Kiba, eh?_

Without another word, Shino quickly loaded up all the wings onto a tray, along with extra fries for the cutie as the girl hurriedly ordered with his colleague. _This is just to thank him for breaking up that awkward atmosphere._

“Thanks,” the cutie flashed him a grin as he took the tray.

Shino ducked his head in acknowledgement. He continued to serve his line, including the cute guy’s friends, with renewed efficiency. He buried the new knowledge that he apparently had a weakness for fangs in a deep, dark corner of his psyche.

**(_ _;) (✧ω✧)**

“What a tricky woman,” Kin glared daggers at the pink-haired woman sitting a few tables away from _her_ best friend’s future boyfriend, “Look at her, sitting there, all blushy and whatever. She’s not even being subtle about sneaking peeks at him. Don’t you find that disgusting, Ino-chan?”

Not hearing the answer she expected, she looked away to see the girl she was worrying about not even paying attention. “Ino-chan! Pay attention here! Your future boyfriend is about to be snatched away!”

“Hmm?” Ino looked up, a frown still furrowed between her eyebrows, “Who?”

“That Haruno girl! Number 2 school beauty, remember? She likes Uchiha-senpai too!” Kin tilted her chin at the person in question, “Just look at that shameless girl.”

“Kin-chan,” Ino admonished her lightly, “Gorgeous guys are eye candy for everyone.”

“Psh,” Kin wrinkled her nose, “You’re too nice, Ino-chan. What does she have to compete with you, anyways?”

“She’s quite pretty and smart,” Ino said mildly, “She’s fair competition.”

“Well, you’re smart, pretty, and an heiress. You win, hands down!” Kin snorted. When she realized her ass-kissing wasn’t getting a response, she looked back at Ino. _This girl is still entranced by her phone!_ “What’s so important on your phone?”

“Mm, just news from home. Nothing much,” Ino quickly shoved her phone back into her purse before Kin could see her screen.

“Everything okay?” _Whatever little company her family runs better not be going bankrupt or anything._

“Just a regular update.”

“Hmph! Only you would be so family-oriented that you’d pay more attention to a regular update than a girl making eyes at your boyfriend.”

“Don’t say that so loudly, someone might misunderstand,” Ino hissed at Kin. She surreptitiously glanced around at the people around them before she glared at her roommate and best friend, “He’s not my boyfriend yet, and I can compete fair and square for his heart with any girl. In the end, it’s up to him.”

Kin shook her head.“I’m telling you, too nice, Ino-chan,” _You’re lucky to have me looking out for you. How else am I supposed to bask in the glow of being the school idol’s girlfriend's best friend and take my pick of the hot, rich guys around them?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sakura's isn't even subtle any more XD
> 
> Whoo hoo! I did it! It's still January where I am, and I survived year-end reporting! Thank you everyone for your patience. Honestly, though I got seriously hung up trying to write the first couple of scenes in this chapter because I could not picture western university students handwashing their own socks, but it was a thing in Love O2O that immensely amused me, so I wanted to slip it in. If you're interested in blending the stories/cultural contexts, or just like to watch people overthinking, stop by Tumblr in an hour or so for extended ANs :) Thank you Reglee for the amazing Beta job, per usual, and thank you for stopping by! Updates will continue to be a bit sporadic (although I'm hoping for every two weeks, since I'm not quite out of the woods for work yet) so long as I don't start writing anything else (But I've been watching "Chef Hua" so... you know, I might just break out in a food fic. It might happen lol *shifty eyes*). A special thank you this week to everyone who joined us last update, and especially Sakurakah who's been leaving me multiple comments to wake up to for the past week - makes me grin all day. As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and imaginary Gamestop stonks always make my day. Thanks again for stopping by, and see you soon!

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fusion fic of Naruto and a Chinese Light Novel & Drama called A Slight Smile is very charming. Thank you r/fanfiction server for listening to me agonize over this baby over the past couple of months and me yeeting the spreadsheet everywhere. I have much more extensive Author's notes on Tumblr (because I got a lot of feels about this fic) so come join me over there if you want to get into the discussion about changes I'm making, but please keep in mind that concrit is not welcome on the direction of the fic, the characterisation, or most plot points - As I said, I've outlined this within an inch of its life. Nothing is changing at that point. If you want to see some of my behind the scenes thoughts about fusing Naruto with Love O2O, why I'm writing it, and other general madness, come say hi on Tumblr at the Lscore blog, or feel free to reach out on Discord at Lscore#8970! Thank you to Bart Larue and Unsplash for the stock image in my banner, and to Hermit from the r/Fanfiction discord for making it beautiful <3


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